


Dispatches from the Rear Lines

by Breac_Rosetta



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Drama, F/F, Gen, Implied/referenced eggs, Pre-Canon, Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond Theory, War Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-03 04:42:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 67,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6597163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Breac_Rosetta/pseuds/Breac_Rosetta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blue Pearl had always enjoyed her life in court. Even as the rebellion raged below, the impact of the events on Earth seemed far away to her. But once war is declared, Blue Pearl will find herself wrapped up in events beyond her understanding and power. She can't change what has happened on Earth, or the ripples it sends through Homeworld as a result. As her life becomes more and more treacherous, Blue Pearl will have to navigate an increasingly paranoid court, a vengeful Diamond, and an affair with her mistress that could spell the end for both of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While this story is technically a sequel to Dreamers Awake, no prior reading of that story is necessary to fully enjoy this one!

 

The world was changing. She could feel it in her core. The court is abuzz as the nimble Gem in front of them leapt and twirled, spinning her lithe body in a rapid blur to the ever-quickening pace of the music. It's a large gathering today, and Gems of all ranks have gathered in Blue Diamond's court to watch the performance. Dignitaries from all three courts intermingle, occasionally breaking into conversation with one another, but most stare in rapt attention at the performance in front of them. Even from her elevated spot, isolated from the crowds, Blue Pearl overhears snippets of conversation. Most of the talk is routine, things she has heard thousands of times before. Occasionally though, she catches whispers of something different. She hears whispers of war.

There's a collective gasp from the crowd as the dancer vaulted herself into the air. Her body spinning and twirling in mid-leap to the song like thing possessed. Even Blue Pearl's attention is caught as she descends, still whirling, back down to the ground. When she lands in a perfect swooping pose, the crowd cheers wildly. Her performance wouldn't be half as impressive if she could use magic. But, of course, she can't. That's the point, what makes it so stunning. The dancer bows a few times to the crowd, taking a moment to collect herself as the first group of singers makes way for another. From across the room, White Diamond watched as her Pearl took one last bow, then began to dance again.

White Diamond's Pearl was always at her most sublime when she danced. Watching her perform, one could forget easily forget their cares of the outside world. Cares related to the Earth, for example. Of temples and spires left unbuilt, of rebel attacks, of Gems disappearing from their posts to join the rebels, or simply 'disappearing' altogether. In truth, Blue Pearl knew very little of the rebellion. Her only knowledge came from the snippets of conversation she happened to overhear. Things her mistress, Blue Diamond, discussed in her presence, or simply bits and pieces caught as a multitude of Gems passed around her.

Almost everyone is quiet as White Pearl performs, caught up in the magic of her next dance. The few Gems that do converse with each other do so quietly, heads down, and shoot occasional nervous glances at their respective Diamonds. For the moment, no one wants to think too hard about the turmoil brewing on the planet beneath them, least of all the Diamonds. Blue Diamond sat shrouded within her palanquin in silence, observing her court with a critical eye. Nothing had quite been the same since the defection of a Sapphire a few years back. She had done her best to maintain control since then, and to an outsider it would seem as if everything was the same. Blue Pearl knew better. She knew her mistress well enough to see the signs of stress. They way she'd twitch her fingers on her lap, or a slight grimace of her lips. The defection had sent shockwaves through the court, and now it seemed only the start of something even bigger.

Why else would these performances, once so rare and reserved for elite viewing, have become so common? It was a needed distraction, and Blue Pearl knew it as well as anyone. Change was coming soon, but Blue Pearl can only do what she's always done. Wait and see.

*****

Dispatches from the surface come every day. Blue Diamond takes most of them in her private quarters, taking time to absorb the reports before meeting with her advisors. Even though she's always by her mistress's side, Blue Pearl understands very little of it. All the jargon and references to places or things she's never seen mean nothing to her. She vaguely understands that the rebellion has become a more serious threat, but the specifics escape her knowledge.

Blue Diamond had her private chamber nestled deep within an undersea temple. Most new colony planets would never have been worth the effort of setting up such a space when one could simply warp back and forth from Homeworld, but Earth had always been unique. From the very beginning, Blue Diamond had personally managed most of the affairs on Earth. An understandable habit, given how rare it was to find waterbound worlds. Blue Pearl recalled how fond her mistress had been in those early years. Designing spires, building temples, making plans for all the wonderful things that would eventually exist; it had seemed like a dream. Her mistress had spent so much time in these quarters going over all the details she wanted in her buildings. It had been a place for her to relax, gain inspiration, and go over the progress of the first intrepid Gem colonists.

It was so much different now. All the chaos on Earth had lead to Blue Diamond spending a good deal of her time here, where she could try to curtail the damage as much as she could. Urgent reports came in often, and Blue Diamond spent much of her time poring over them in detail. Blue Diamond was sitting in front of a holographic monitor, scrolling through a long wall of text. Pearl stood near the back of the room in silence. Her eyes drifted from her mistress to the room around them.

Computer monitors covered most of the walls, but an untrained observer wouldn't know that. Sheer fabrics and carved panels were always draped in front of them. Sometimes the monitors would be set to a cool dimness, helping the ambience. Other times they were programmed to display hazy images, as if other rooms were hidden just beyond the gauzy veils. Blue Pearl craned her head to look upwards as a large shadow passed over the room. Through the transparent dome of the ceiling, she watched as a massive, grey animal swam languidly above. The beast had a smooth, oblong body, it's only notable features being a wide mouth, two tiny, oar-like limbs and a flat, bisected tail that slowly propelled the creature forward.

Blue Pearl had never seen as many animals as she had here, watching them swim above her. While her mistress worked, she would keep her eyes craned above, watching for signs of them. The large animal drifted out of Pearl's line of sight and she went back to staring at her Diamond as she worked. Her fingers flicked across the holographic display, panels full of data rushing past in quick succession. Judging from the time she'd been working and the way her pace had slowed, Pearl felt confident her mistress would soon be done. She looked up at the clear dome again and felt excited just thinking about it.

If all went right, it wouldn't be long before her mistress would set the ceiling to an opaque darkness, blocking out any trace of outside light. Blue Pearl always felt an immediate rush in that moment. At those times, she could barely contain herself as Blue Diamond would slowly make her way over to the mattress encased in her canopied palanquin, reclining on her side and beckoning her over with a curl of a finger and a twitch of a smile on her lips. 

They'd been having an affair for hundreds of years now. From the moment Blue Pearl had laid eyes on her mistress, she had been irrevocably in love. For a long time, it had seemed as if Blue Diamond was taken with her too, but it hadn't been until they'd made it to Earth that everything finally fell into place. Pearl had never questioned it much. It was her Diamond's desire, and hers as well. Their true relationship was a secret, of course. Pearl never forgot what she was, or the kind of shame and scandal her mistress would endure if anyone ever found about their affair. 

There was a gentle hum as Blue Diamond waved a hand and the monitor dissipated. She turned to Pearl with a smile and waved her closer. Blue Pearl scurried forward as fast as her legs could take her. She had stopped being shy about her intentions a long time ago. If anything, Blue Diamond had encouraged her to be a bit more forward. Pearl stopped in front of her Diamond, practically humming with anticipation. She smiled down at Pearl, and from her spot below Pearl could look up under her mistress's veil and see the way her eyes glimmered and crinkled at the corners. Blue Diamond didn't smile that way for anyone other than her, and in Pearl's mind nothing in the universe would ever be able to match it.

"Will you dance for me, Pearl?" Blue Diamond murmured. Pearl nodded and bowed deeply, giving her a chance to hide a wide smile before starting. She was nowhere near as skilled a dancer as White Diamond's Pearl, but nobody was. Blue Pearl enjoyed dancing, and she was quite good at it, as far as most Pearls went. She began dance slowly, humming a small tune to her movements. From beneath her bangs, she kept her eyes on her mistress, watching her reaction. Pearl posed gracefully on one leg, twirled, then dipped her body backward, still balancing on tiptoes.

"More," Blue Diamond whispered.

She held her pose a moment longer before quickly righting herself and twirling again. She began to sing softly, body twisting and bending before her Diamond's eyes. Her pace began to quicken and Blue Diamond kneeled down in front of her.

"Faster," she urged, and Pearl abided, her movements gaining speed. Any moment now her mistresses snatch her up mid-spin, scoop her up in the palm of her hands and-

There was a slam as the chamber doors burst open. Blue Diamond shot up in alarm and Pearl halted mid-spin to resume her default pose, hands clasped in front of her. This did nothing to stop the thrumming sensation in her gem or the electricity that was still coursing through her body.

"My Diamond!"

They turned to Gem trembling in the doorway. It was a Jasper, one of Blue Diamond's personal guards. Without waiting to be summoned, the Jasper hurried forward, her one eye bulging in fear. Blue Diamond never took kindly to intrusions. At the moment, Pearl wasn't feeling very kindly towards the Jasper either. Pearl knew that if the Jasper didn't have a good reason to waltz in without permission, it wouldn't be long before a new guard took her place.

"It's Rose Quartz. She's broadcasting something. You need to see it." The Jasper shot a glance at Pearl and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck begin to prickle. The Gem in place of a left eye gave the Jasper a more menacing appearance than normal, and her one good eye narrowed in suspicion as she looked at Pearl. Pearl felt another surge of electricity tingeing her body, but now it was fueled by something different. It was fueled by fear.

"Alone would be best." The Jasper added, keeping her gaze firmly fixed. Blue Diamond narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. She waved the Jasper over to a corner of the room and reactivated a panel, pulling up the broadcast from Earth. Rose Quartz appeared before them, a banner waving behind her as she gesticulated wildly towards her audience.

"-must understand! What we have been told, all of us, is wrong!" Rose boomed as she gesticulated wildly. Next to her, slightly off to the side, stood her Pearl. She was gazing at the transmitter too. A sword in hand, she glared at her audience in bold defiance. Blue Pearl felt a fresh ripple of fear course through her.

It had been almost two centuries since she'd last seen Pink Pearl. The day she and Rose had attempted an attack on the Sky Spire, the day Sapphire had defected. Pink Pearl's arrival had been the herald of something new, something dangerous. Blue Pearl shot a nervous glance over to her mistress. Blue Diamond stood still as stone, lips set tightly against each other. She was afraid too.

"-is no longer solely about the Earth!" Rose declared. "We are now fighting for a complete abolition of the caste system as we know it! We cannot call ourselves rebels as long as we continue to perpetuate the myths set by the Diamond authority. Each one of us is an individual, a unique Gem with-"

Blue Diamond turned off the transmission with a shaky finger.

"You are dismissed," she murmured to the Jasper. Jasper bowed deeply, shot one last nervous glance at Pearl, then left. There is no more electricity left inside Pearl. She felt a sense of hollow dread encase her, numbing her to the true force of the blow that Rose had struck. She didn't know what to do. She turned to Blue Diamond for answers, but Blue Diamond could only mirror her expression of deadened fear.

It is official. The rebellion has become a war.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few months passed by in a whirlwind. All the panels in Blue Diamond's chambers were uncovered and blasted torrents of data. Broadcasts from all over the empire flooded in, and streams of data ran unending down the screens. At the center of it all was Blue Diamond, conferencing with her advisors on one panel while her fingers dashed across another. Pearl watched from the sidelines, unable to stop the nervous energy that permeated the room from swallowing her up.

"How much has the broadcast been contained?" Blue Diamond barked to the Gem onscreen.

"We estimate around 500,000 Gems saw the initial broadcast with a dissemination rate of 0.2%," the harried advisor, a Cornelian, replied.

"I want every trace of that message eliminated. Find out which Gems saw it and cross-reference it with past problematic behavior. We are ending this before it starts."

"And the Gems stationed on Earth?" Cornelian asked.

"I want them in lock down until we can get this under control." Cornelian nodded once and signed off. The transmission ended and another immediately began.

Blue Diamond rushed from one meeting to the next, never stopping, never slowing. Pearl accompanied her sometimes, but mostly she was left to herself, forced to wait anxiously for her mistress to return. With no one to watch her, Pearl slipped into her nervous habits. She played with her fingers, rubbing her thumb in circles around her forefinger, or squeezing her fingertips against her palm, over and over again. She traced her fingertips with her thumb and kept glancing at the large, ornate doors, as if her mistress would return upon her psychic bidding. But the doors remained still, and Blue Diamond's quarters seemed cavernous and lonely in a way they never had been before.

Even when she did return, Blue Diamond was too occupied to pay attention to her. At least, that's what Pearl hoped. There had been another transmission from Earth. Pearl didn't see it. Her mistress discussed this one with her advisors too. Pearl noticed that sometimes the advisors' eyes would drift over to her as she stood by herself. Sometimes, when they talked about things like 'flight risk' and 'containment,' it felt like they were talking about her.

*****

The court churned with uneasiness. Blue Pearl stood next to her mistress as the turbulent sea of Gems passed by. Now more than ever Blue Diamond had a duty to her people, to retain some semblance of normalcy as her people were inevitably dragged down to war. Gems came forward to air their grievances with others, voice concerns, or plead for their Diamond's intervention in their affairs. Blue Diamond listened to them all in turn, granting some requests and denying others. Even those who were denied rarely walked away too upset; they'd been able to speak to their Diamond directly about their affairs. It was easy enough for Blue Pearl to forget how much of a rarity that was. Most Gems only spoke to their Diamond a few times in their lives.

Pearl stood at her mistress's side as another Gem finished conferring with her. As the Gem left, she shot an angry glare at Pearl before walking away. Pearl dug her fingers into her palm, but said nothing. This wasn't the first time it had happened today. Pearl's eyes darted beneath her bangs, watching the swarm of Gems around her. They were fearful and angry. They were looking towards her. Every so often Pearl would notice someone turn to her and glare daggers, as if they wanted to confront her, as if she'd done something to harm them.

Another Gem approached Blue Diamond and Pearl could feel the cold fury directed towards her, she saw the way the Gem's fists tightened as she approached, the sudden distraction in the Gem's tone as she came closer, ever closer to Pearl. Pearl tried her best to ignore it, to focus on her duty and stay by her Diamond's side. She tried not to think about the Gem standing mere feet away, the one who looked like she wanted to smash Pearl to bits. She tried to focus back on the crowd instead.

Pearl had never been visible. Next to her mistress she was a mere side note, fading into the background of Blue Diamond's grandeur. She had liked it that way. The scrutiny was unnerving, unbearable. She could feel hundreds of eyes boring into her, glaring at her, Gems wishing they could confront her or harm her for reasons Pearl didn't understand. She tried to keep her arms from trembling, tried to refocus, but movement felt dangerous. It felt like she'd draw even more attention to herself. She locked herself into position as best she could even though she had never felt more like fleeing, like diving under the safe confines of her Diamond's robes where nothing could harm her, where nothing bad ever happened. They kept glaring at her.

Yet another Gem approached Blue Diamond, an Aquamarine dignitary with whom Blue Diamond often met. Or rather, who often found excuses to pester her for trivial reasons. As always, she was accompanied by her Pearl. Blue Pearl always felt a little sorry for her. She was a small, nervous thing who always looked harried. This effect was made worse by her overall appearance. Her head was a little too big, eyes a little too bugged, and limbs a little too long. It overall lead to a rather gangly effect. The other Pearl looked as harassed as Blue Pearl felt.

"It's all very frightening," the Aquamarine continued. "I'm doing my best to keep working, but the colony's just so unstable." Blue Diamond nodded, but it was clear to Pearl that she wanted Aquamarine to leave.

"Why, just two days ago a shipment- Pearl! Stop that" Aquamarine barked as her Pearl stumbled closer to Blue Diamond after a hulking Amethyst nearly toppled her over. The other Pearl flinched, mumbled an apology, and cast her large eyes downwards. Aquamarine turned back to Blue Diamond and smiled apologetically.

"I'm so sorry about that. You know how Pearls are. It's so hard to find a good one. Especially now since, well, you know."

Blue Diamond pursed her lips.

"Perhaps I don't know. Because it seems to me like you're referencing a subversive broadcast that was banned from public viewing and discussion. Someone such as yourself wouldn't do such a thing, would you?"

Aquamarine blanched and rapidly shook her head.

"Why, of course not, My Diamond! I'd never! Certainly not!"

Aquamarine backed away quickly, bowing again and again while uttering more apologies. Her Pearl hurried quickly after her as Aquamarine left. Blue Pearl watched as another Gem intentionally bumped into the other Pearl as she hurried after her mistress. The Pearl stumbled, but quickly righted herself and hurried faster, keeping her eyes on the ground and arms wrapped tightly around herself.

By the time Blue Diamond finally retired to her chambers, Blue Pearl was more anxious and exhausted than she'd been in a very long time. She moved over to a small corner of the room relatively isolated from the rest, a spot between a carved statue and a draped curtain that created a little overhang. Away from the angry stares of the court, Blue Pearl felt her limbs begin to tremble and shake. Already her memory had turned the encounter into something uglier than it was. In her mind, figures loomed up over her, large and dangerous. A whole sea of them, blending into one another as their eyes bored into her, burned her back and chest and head and limbs. Their hands twitched with the promise of anger, and for the first time in her life, Blue Pearl didn't feel safe next to her Diamond. She felt exposed. Vulnerable.

"Pearl," Blue Diamond called softly. Pearl snapped out of her reverie and turned towards her mistress. She made a motion to run towards her, but instead Blue Diamond raised a hand, halting her, as Blue Diamond approached her instead. Blue Pearl looked away. She knew she wasn't acting as a proper Pearl should.

"Pearl, I think you should stop attending court for a while."

"I'm sorry! I didn't-"

Blue Diamond raised her hand again, halting Pearl's apology on the edge of her lips.

"This is not a punishment. You've done nothing wrong."

"Then why?" Pearl whispered tentatively.

Blue Diamond paused.

"Do you really want to stay in court?" she finally asked. Pearl hesitated. Thinking about the hateful scrutiny again sent a shudder coursing through her body. She didn't want to go back to that, to feel so exposed, so tiny. The worst of it was, she didn't know why it was happening or what she'd done to make everyone so angry. It was probably something to do with Rose and her Pearl, but Blue Pearl could only imagine. Her fear began to turn into frustration. Nothing but trouble had come since Rose had rebelled. Even stripped of her authority and re-branded with a new title, one meant to demean her and the position she occupied, Rose had never stopped being a formidable force. She, the Sapphire and Ruby, and Pearl, all up against the might of the Gem empire.

Rose and Pearl. Blue Pearl remembered back when they had their own court. Pink Pearl had always given White Pearl a run for her money. She could dance and sing and tell stories that could lead to a crowd in stitches or tears. Despite being defective, she could do everything, and do it well. She had been as close to a perfect Pearl as it was possible to be. But then she'd fled with Rose and thrown everything away. Now she was down on Earth somewhere, fighting in the name of her mistress. ~~~~

If Pink Pearl could brave an army, then she could brave an angry crowd.

"I want to stay with you," Pearl insisted. Blue Diamond smiled and caressed her face.

*****

The Diamonds had gathered to discuss the latest development. White Diamond lead the way to their meeting place, one of her completed spires. Yellow Diamond followed after her, and Blue Diamond brought up the rear. Pearl rode with her mistress in silence as they were carried along. She wished this meeting would be held someplace else. Pearl stood next to her mistress, hidden within her palanquin, as thin, spidery legs propelled the contraption forward. A slight breeze blew past, ruffling Blue Diamond's cloak. Ahead of them, both Yellow Diamond and White Diamond rode in their respective seats, Pearls at their sides. Further ahead was their destination. The Sky Spire. Blue Pearl swallowed a lump in her throat. She always wanted to return here someday, but not like this. Not with the others. 

The Diamonds settled into the Sky Spire, but just barely. They could sit together comfortably, but standing was out of the question. Blue Pearl glanced up at the ceiling. It seemed so much smaller now. She remembered when this place was only half-built, before the ceiling had been added. She remembered clearly the nights she spent here, wrapped in her mistress's arms and watching the stars pass by overhead. It's almost too much for her.

"Pearl, why don't you go stand outside?" Blue Diamond suggests. She nods once, bows, and walks slowly away from the gathering, grateful that she's been given an opportunity to be by herself. She doesn't want the other Diamonds to catch the tremble in her arms.

It's been well over a century since they was here last. She and her mistress had spend so many months here, away from the court. It had felt like paradise. Just the two of them, all alone together. Except they hadn't been alone, not really. The whole reason Blue Pearl had been whisked away here had been to conceal their biggest secret. She and Blue Diamond had eggs together. She had incubated them and Blue Diamond had hidden them somewhere in one of the Earth kindergartens. A familiar lump formed in Pearl's throat. She still knows nothing about what happened to them. They would have taken their forms a long time ago. She still wonders what they look like and what they're doing now. Back then, she was happy they would finish their incubation cycle on Earth. But the Earth is different now. More dangerous. Hot pinpricks burn the corners of her eyes.

"Quite a spire, isn't it?"

Blue Pearl turned to see Yellow and White Pearl following after her. White made a swooping hand gesture, indicating the whole of the building.

"My Diamond has always had a knack for a good design."

Blue Pearl doesn't mention that it's the architects who designed the building for White Diamond, not the other way around. She wished she didn't have to wait with the other Pearls, especially not here. The Sky Spire is special to her. She knows it rightfully belongs to White Diamond and her court, but Blue Pearl still feels like it's hers, somehow.

"Did it really need all of those silly floating pillars though?" Yellow Pearl drawled. "It's such an inconvenience."

White huffed.

"It's a little something called aesthetic, although I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand."

" _Well_! I'll have _you_ know..."

Blue Pearl tried her best to ignore them and turned back towards the spire. She could see her mistress from the entryway, deep in conversation with the other Diamonds. She wondered what they were discussing.

Blue Diamond drummed her fingers on her lap as White Diamond continued on her tirade.

"We all saw the video! Rose's Pearl inciting other Pearls into rebelling against their masters and fleeing to Earth! What Rose did was heinous enough, but that was obscenity of the highest order. We can't risk any more chaos. If this rebellion has shown us anything, it's that defiance of the social order only leads to anarchy. We must keep the peace. We have to start with the Pearls."

Yellow Diamond shook her head.

"Rose Quartz is causing enough of a commotion. If we lead everyone to believe their Pearls will suddenly run rampant, it will only lead to more panic. What we need is to keep the order. Monitoring and controlling broadcasts, stopping any unauthorized Gems from warping to or from Earth, and maintaining control on the rumors at home. The most important thing is to prevent these tainted ideas from spreading. Causing a panic will only make the problem worse."

"I highly doubt the Pearl's call to arms will amount to anything." Blue Diamond added. "All this bluster and swordsmanship is only under the command of Rose. She's only acting as obedient Pearl would. We have no reason to believe that this problem will extend beyond Rose's Pearl."

"Yet," White Diamond insisted. Yellow nodded.

"Yet."

*****

Her time at the spire was draining, but Blue Pearl didn't let it show. She stood next to her mistress on the palanquin, kept her hands clasped to her chest, and kept looking forward. Even though she wanted to look back. Even though she wished she and her mistress could have lingered, just for a minute, as the others left. She couldn't let herself falter, not even once. She had a duty. It was her job to keep her mistress free from worry, to make her happy and distract her from her cares. As much as it ached for Pearl to think about them for too long, she couldn't imagine what her mistress must be feeling. She had to stay strong for her.

The palanquin returned to its corner in the temple, but Blue Diamond remained where she was and craned her neck upwards to stare out the ceiling. Blue Pearl glanced up as well. No animals were in sight; it was nothing but them and the darkness of the sea. Pearl wondered if it night had fallen on this part of the planet. She wondered if there were stars out. She waited for Blue Diamond to rise and return to her work, but she remained seated, gazing at something above that Pearl didn't see. It was always quiet in Blue Diamond's quarters, but this was different, more palpable. Something lingered in the air around them and Pearl waited expectantly until her mistress broke the silence.

"It's been a long time since we were at the Sky Spire," Blue Diamond murmured. Something lodged itself in Blue Pearl's throat and refused to leave, settling in and making it hard to speak.

"It's...changed." She finally offered. 

"Do you think about them often, my Pearl?" Blue Diamond asked quietly. Pearl wanted to say no. Maybe she should say no. It wasn't as if she thought about them every day. She could go months, even years, without thinking about them. But something always brought them back to her thoughts eventually. Sometimes she would catch a glimpse of some Gem passing by court, someone who in passing looked just enough like her to make her sick with curiosity. Gems she didn't know, Gems she barely saw, Pearl wondered if one of them, somewhere, was one of hers, if they'd passed each other at some point and she'd never noticed them.

Or sometimes when she accompanied Blue Diamond on her travels, Pearl wondered where they were now, if they were still on Earth or if they'd taken assignments elsewhere. She wondered what they were doing, if they were happy. She didn't think about them all the time. But she thought about them enough.

"Yes." Blue finally answered. She hesitated, then glanced up at her mistress. "Do you?"

Blue Diamond was silent for a very long time.

"Yes."


	3. Chapter 3

They were no longer allowed to accompany their Diamonds to meetings. One day they had simply all been halted by the Jasper guards as their mistresses continued into a room alone. From then on, they were made to wait in a lobby until their mistresses returned. The Jaspers blocked the entrance as they always did, sharp eyes scanning the room in search of any sign of a potential threat. Blue Pearl couldn't help but notice how often their gaze was directed towards them nowadays. She would catch sight of the way their eyes stopped on them, pupils flicking up and down before casting their sights on something else. The Jaspers were looking at them like they were dangerous.

If the other Pearls noticed this new scrutiny, they didn't mention it. They all stood together as their Diamonds talked of war. Even among her own, Blue Pearl felt like an outsider. She didn't mind so much. Most of the time they left her alone. She stood slightly off to the side as White and Yellow Pearl went into their own running commentary about the newest developments on the Earth front.

"I don't see how they can even call it a war. These rebels are deluded if they think they can go up against their Homeworld. Once my Diamond puts her foot down, it'll be over before the century's up. I guarantee it." Yellow Pearl declared.

Yellow Pearl was the youngest of the three by far. She'd only been made a few decades ago and was unlike any Pearl that Blue had known before. She didn't dance, or sing, or perform in any manner at all. Her outfit was mostly utilitarian, with only the slightest flourishes on the edges. On one hand, she was a Pearl perfectly befitting her Diamond. On the other hand, those things were the whole reason for a Pearl's existence. Blue Pearl still wasn't sure what had prompted Yellow Diamond to commission her creation, much less for what purpose. Despite this, she carried herself with an air of self-satisfied superiority, as if she was somehow better than the rest of them. She was opinionated, smug, and just a little too fond of recounting stories involving her mistress punishing Gems who failed her. She was everything White Pearl could have asked for in a companion. Despite being made for completely opposite purposes and the occasional personality clash, they had been quick to bond and stuck together like a fusion. Whenever the Diamonds had to meet, they would always rush up to each other and pick up their last conversation.

"They were deluded from the start if they thought they stood a chance of winning," White added as she inspected her perfectly shaped fingertips. "The colony will go back to normal soon, I suspect."

White Pearl was exquisite. There was no way around it. The way she moved, the way she looked, everything she did was perfectly measured to be as ethereally beautiful as possible. There were rumors that White Diamond's Pearl was the first Pearl ever made, creating a standard which could never be surmounted. Blue Pearl believed it. Everything White Pearl did, she did for the sake of beauty. It was her passion, her love, her reason for existence. White Pearl's dedication to her craft ran far deeper than Blue Pearl could comprehend. 

"If you ask me, they should just blast the surface. The planet's big, there'll still be enough left over." Yellow Pearl continued. White shook her head, her silvery grey curls bouncing and bobbing against her face.

"That's far too crude, and it's not reasonable besides. The planet's too big, and there's not many rebels.  What they ought to do is trap them. Stop production on everything except a few projects and only let a few Gems be seen in those areas. Make the rebels think we're afraid of them. Induce them to target those areas. Then!" White tapped a closed fist into a tiny palm. Yellow shook her head and made a clicking noise with her tongue. She glanced over to Blue and scowled.

"Surely even you have to have an opinion on all this!"

Blue jolted, her mind suddenly running circles on itself as she tried to formulate a response. She could already feel the panic expanding inside her body, like a million tiny needlepricks shooting out from her core.

"I...I...think..."

"Well come on! Spit it out!" Yellow snapped. Blue froze, and the little needles blasted outwards, coating her gut and the back of her mouth. White Pearl laughed.

"Well now you've done it! She won't speak for a year!"

Yellow cackled back.

"Like she even did before!"

Blue dug her fingers into her palms and tried to quell the bubbling pit in her chest. The needles slowly melted and her insides felt like metal being brought to a boil, the way it felt every time they talked about her like this. She wished White Pearl hadn't let slip to Yellow that she wasn't mute. It had been so much easier that way. At least back then, Yellow Pearl had simply ignored her rather than attempt to force Blue into speaking like she did now.

Blue Pearl knew she wasn't the cleverest Gem. Even under the best circumstances, it was hard for her to find the right words for what she was feeling, to categorize the thoughts that would rush and swirl about her head into something coherent. Even when she did know, sometimes it was still hard for her to put her thoughts into words. And she hated that about herself most of all, the way it was so difficult for her to speak. She hated the fact that being cornered like this made it even worse, the anxiety stuffing itself down her throat and choking the words right out of her. She couldn't speak like this, and they knew it. They knew it and they looked down on her for it.

Yellow Pearl would badger her into trying to speak, as if constantly harassing her about the issue would somehow eventually make it easier. White Pearl had simply written her off as a lost cause a long time ago. Blue wasn't sure which felt worse. At the moment, she almost felt like trying to stand with the Jasper guards. At least they didn't speak while on duty either. Yellow turned back to White and shook her head.

"It gets me so angry thinking about it. My Diamond had a precise schedule for the colony, and now it's been pushed back by decades! And for what? So they can live like animals? My Diamond always says that Rose Quartz was a deviant of the worst kind! Really, they're all deviants! The whole lot of them."

"And her Pearl!" White insisted. "I could tell from the start there was something wrong with her."

"There's no respect for the natural order! That's what's wrong with them both!" Yellow added.

"All this talk about abolishing the order of things, really! Next thing you know, those rebels will have Amethysts as architects and Citrines as soldiers!" White made a dismissive hand gesture as she spoke, her opalescent skin gleaming under the lights. Yellow shook her head in disgust again.

"What they want is to cause more chaos! Just think what would happen if any more Pearls abandoned their duties! It would be madness! Who would keep everything from becoming filthy? Who would take care of everyone's treasured possessions? Who would entertain the masses?"

Yellow Pearl became more and more flustered as she continued. "Why, I can't even imagine what would happen if I wasn't around! My mistress _needs_ me! She's a very busy Gem! I should know; I'm the one who manages her affairs! If I wasn't there, she'd be forced to waste all her valuable time just keeping things in order, then she'd have no time for important things, and she'd become even more lost. Our court would be in shambles. I have to look after her! "

Yellow Pearl began to tear up at the prospect. Blue Pearl didn't know Yellow Diamond that well, but she didn't seem like the kind of Gem who would be rendered helpless from not having a Pearl. After all, she'd done well enough for the millennia Blue had known her before she'd gotten her Pearl. At the very least, it solved the mystery of why Yellow Pearl had been made.

"If that Pearl were here right now, why I'd...I'd...I'd give _her_ what for!" White threatened as she raised a small fist.

*****

She seemed such a tiny thing, clutched in the arms of the Jaspers. Blue Pearl watched as the crowd parted for them, hulking, orange figures standing in stark contrast to the sea of blue Gems. In the middle of it all, a Pearl hung slack between their grasp. Her wrists hung limp while feet dragged across the tile, eyes cast downward. She was a pretty Pearl, or would have been if she wasn't so disheveled. A stern looking Gem walked behind them, glaring at the Pearl in hatred. They had interrupted court to bring her forward. The guards presented her to Blue Diamond, roughly tossing the Pearl at Blue Diamond's feet. The Pearl fell forward, barely making a sound as she hit the tile. For a moment, her limbs splayed out beneath her like a lifeless mannequin. But she righted herself quickly, coming to rest on her hands and knees, eyes still cast downward.

"We caught her attempting to flee to Earth." The first guard explained. Blue Diamond leaned forward in her seat as the crowd closed in around them. The stern looking Gem, a Turquoise, folded her arms and stared from behind the Jaspers. The Pearl slowly shook her head back and forth, not making a sound. The room had gone quiet. Beyond the confines of her Diamond's palanquin, the crowd made no movement, no shuffling in place or hushed whispers to neighbors. They stood in rapt attention to the unknown Pearl, watching the performance before them. Blue Pearl found herself pulled in too, unable to look towards her mistress for guidance. The world had been reduced suddenly to this Pearl, the Jaspers, and the Turquoise.

"She was trying to join the rebels," The second Jasper added. The little Pearl shook her head more vigorously, fingers digging into the tile.

"No..." she whispered. At this, the Turquoise shoved past the guards to stand behind the Pearl.

"I saw you, you awful little sneak!" She snarled, "Trying to get away from me, your rightful master-"

"No!" The Pearl snapped, whirling on the Gem behind her. She was alive, suddenly, transformed before Blue Pearl's eyes into a thing bursting to the brim with electricity and light.

"I have no master!" She spit. She whipped around to face Blue Diamond, radiant in her fury. "Long live the revolution!" She proclaimed. "Long li-"

There was a blur of orange as a Jasper smashed her hands together between the Pearl's head. A magic trick. The Pearl had disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Jasper opened her palms and revealed her secret, orange hands coated white. A magical transmutation of Gem into powder, inanimate, then alive, then inanimate again.

The Turquoise stepped backwards, mute in horror. The Jasper turned her palms upwards to Blue Diamond and Blue Pearl felt something shift, some essential part of reality gone awry. The crowd stared in mute terror but Pearl could feel that any second, someone was about to cry out and send the court into a panic. Blue Diamond quickly rose from her seat and placed a hand on Turquoise's shoulder.

"I apologize for the commotion my guard may have caused. You'll be reimbursed for the cost of your Pearl."

Turquoise nodded dumbly, attempting to smile but clearly still shaken.

"Of course, My Diamond," stammered, "What ever you say."

Blue Diamond turned to her guard, white palms still raised. She gingerly touched the Jasper's wrists and lowered her hands back down.

"Clean yourself up and return to court once you're decent."

The Jasper nodded slowly. It was obvious to Blue Pearl that she wanted to say something, perhaps to defend herself. Instead, she walked away, a light snow following her path. The court continued, but it wasn't the same. An odd smell hung in the air, thick and chalky. In the back of her mouth, she could still taste the other Pearl.

*****

Blue Diamond was still thinking about the other Pearl too. The way her lips pursed and the slight curl of her palms told Blue Pearl her mistress was just as shaken by the incident as she was. Pearl wondered if her Diamond could still taste the Pearl in the back of her throat too, if she itched for some way to scrub every last molecule out of her body, if it felt strange and wrong to carry around another Gem this way.

Blue Diamond caught her eye and she was almost tempted to ask. The event felt surreal and frightening, and Blue Pearl wished she could understand it. She licked her lips again, the ghostly taste of chalk still lingering. She felt her mistress's eyes on her, waiting patiently for her to speak, but Pearl couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Instead, Blue Diamond went over to one of her curio displays and took something off the highest shelf. A large, flat-bottomed basin with a low-set jug sitting inside. Pearl felt her insides lurch as Blue Diamond set it on the ground in front of her. The jug, filled to the top with fresh water, was removed and Pearl stared at herself in the reflective surface of the dish. She did not know why this, of all things, was being presented to her. These items weren't for a time like this. This basin and jug were for after one of their trysts, when they needed to clean up. Blue Pearl crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't feel like being touched at the moment. To think her mistress did after what they'd just seen made her feel more ill.

"Pearl," her Diamond called softly. Pearl remained in place.

"I...I don't want to." Pearl murmured, crossing her arms tighter.

"It's not for that." Blue Diamond assured her. Pearl's grip on her arms slackened, but she kept staring at herself in the bowl. It was coated in an iridescent material that made it shine in hues of purple and blue. A fine filigree pattern was etched into the rim, the same pattern running in a thick band around the vase. It had sat on display as long as Pearl could recall, at least until they began repurposing it. Blue Diamond dipped a finger into the vase, a small bubble of water hovering above her fingertip.

"Open your mouth," she instructed. Pearl hesitated, but then complied. The water gently flowed from her Diamond's finger past her lips. She held it there, unsure of what to do.

"Swish the water around." Blue Diamond coaxed. Pearl did so. Her mistress pointed down.

"Into the basin."

Pearl opened her mouth and the water poured out, carrying the chalky taste with it.

"Better?"

Pearl licked the edges of her teeth with her tongue. The taste of the other Pearl had faded, but she couldn't tell if particles of her still remained or if it was just her imagination. Pearl nodded and her Diamond offered a small smile before taking the basin and its contents over to the disposable chute. Pearl watched as the door to the chute was opened, the contents poured in, and the door closed again. The chute lead outside, to the ocean. Pearl wondered if it would have been any comfort to the other Pearl to know some part of her would stay on Earth now, forever intermingled with the sea. ~~~~

"Why did she do it?" The question fell out before Pearl could stop herself, the last spectral essence of the other Pearl falling from her lips. Blue Diamond seemed surprised, and for a moment, Pearl considered apologizing. Instead, Blue Diamond calmly replaced the basin and jug to their old spots on the shelf before answering.

"She disliked her life. As if a soldier's life would have been easier. As if she wouldn't have a master on the battlefield, too."

"Why did she say those things?"  The corners of Blue Diamond's mouth creased.

"She knew she was going to die. She'd accepted it. She wanted to do it on her terms, I suppose." Blue Diamond turned down, looking at Pearl as if she was trying to figure something out. "What _do_ you think about all this talk, my Pearl?"

Blue Pearl started, staring at her Diamond in confusion. What she thought? She began to rub small circles on the tip of her right thumb with her left.  All the talk about Pearls and rebellion and freedom congealed together into a confusing mish-mash in her mind. She thought about what Yellow and White Pearl had said about duty and purpose. She thought about Aquamarine's Pearl, harried and skittish. She thought again about Turquoise's Pearl, unafraid and defiant. All the pieces were laid out in her mind, but it felt like a puzzle with no answer. She really didn't know what to think of it all.

She turned to her mistress for guidance. Blue Diamond understood her, as no one else did. Her mistress had never minded how difficult it was for her to speak. She had always been patient, letting Pearl take her time when talking.  It was always an effort for Pearl to talk, but when it was with her Diamond, she felt comfortable. Over the years, it had become easier for her to open up and get the right words out. No matter how the others made her feel, her Diamond had never treated her like she was defective or a failure.  Even now, Blue Diamond understood Pearl's limits. She rephrased her question into something her Pearl could answer.

"If you were allowed to do whatever you wished, what would you do?"

Blue Pearl considered the question. For her, the choice was clear. She loved her mistress and would never leave her side. Before all the panic of the war, Pearl wouldn't have asked for anything. All the talk about 'freedom' had never made sense to Pearl, because she never felt trapped. She had everything she wanted and it seemed like White and Yellow Pearl had everything they wanted too. White lived for her performances, dancing and dazzling crowds through increasingly spectacular displays. Yellow wanted nothing more than to be her Diamond's right-hand Gem, in control of all the little details in her Diamond's day-to-day life. She loved her life too, especially the fact that that she was allowed to observe court life without being expected to participate. Really, she had most everything she wanted. Except...

The question of the other Pearls still tugged at her. She wondered what the lives of Turquoise and Aquamarine's Pearl were like. Why had Turquoise's Pearl wanted to flee? If she had made it to Earth, would she have been happy? Was Pink Pearl happy with her new life on Earth? Blue couldn't imagine her ever choosing Homeworld over her mistress, but she wondered if Pink ever wished that Rose hadn't rebelled. Did she miss Home? Did she know what had happened to rest of the Pearls because of her choice?

The question began to churn uncomfortably inside her. Pearl's nervous habit of picking at her forefinger with her thumb quickened. She knew by now that Pink Pearl had done something to cause more turmoil on top of what Rose had done. Whatever it was, Pearls were paying for it left and right. In hindsight, Turquoise's fate seemed almost inevitable.

But at the end of the day, a traitor was still a traitor. What had happened in court would have happened to any Gem, regardless of rank. No one would have gotten a pardon for rebelling, and no one would have made it out of court after turning on her Diamond. Her mistress was right; the Pearl had chosen her fate, just like she'd chosen to rebel.

As for her, there was only one choice Blue Pearl wanted to make.

"I'd stay with you," Blue Pearl finally told her Diamond.

"What about the other Pearls?" Blue Diamond asked. Pearl didn't have an answer.


	4. Chapter 4

Yellow Pearl was wrong, but Blue took no enjoyment of it. The century had passed, but the war still raged on. Today was their last day in Blue Diamond's Earth quarters. All of the curios, statues, and swaths of fabric had been removed. The room lay barren and crisp, the only thing preventing it from feeling completely desolate was the clear ceiling. The last thing left was Blue Diamond's palanquin, in which she sat as she gazed upwards at the sea. Pearl sat in her lap, her head resting against her Diamond's thigh as her mistress idly ran her fingers through Pearl's hair. She wished she could see something before they had to leave, one last group of fish, shimmering as their bodies caught the light from below, or one of the tube-shaped beasts with huge eyes and long limbs that darted quickly away. All she saw was the ocean, quiet and dark.

As she sat in her Diamond's lap, Pearl savored the feeling of her mistress running her fingers through her hair. There was something calming about the sensations, the way her Diamond would run the tips of her fingers through her scalp or brush Pearl's bangs out of her eyes before slowly letting them fall back down. There was a comfort in the touch and repetition, and comfort wasn't as easy to come by as it used to be. The surface of Earth had long been too dangerous for them to visit, and now the sea was no longer a safe refuge. Rebels had destroyed one of Blue Diamond's underwater temples. From what Pearl had overheard, all the poor attendants had either been captured or killed. In either case, the rebels had once again proven to be more dangerous and effective than anyone wanted to credit them. 

Yellow and White Diamond still downplayed the threat, but Blue Diamond had had enough. Even  if Blue Diamond was in her element, there was still a chance, however slight, of a successful ambush by Rose and her forces. So despite the protests of Yellow and White, Blue Diamond had made the decision to permanently move back to Homeworld. Pearl stared at the barren room, now clear, now through the veil of her bangs as her Diamond ran a finger across her forehead. There was something about the war that had always seemed far away to Pearl. For the first time, it felt real, tangible, and Pearl was frightened of the implications. Her Diamond rested a thumb against Pearl's head and Pearl turned to look up at her.

"We'll come back here someday, Pearl. We just need to be patient."

Pearl smiled weakly. Blue Diamond always knew how to calm her and keep her grounded. Throughout the war she'd kept peace in her court, assuaging fears and ensuring stability. It would pay off someday. Pearl knew that her Diamond's hard work would pay off eventually, when the war was finally over. Like her mistress said, their absence wasn't forever.

"You want to return to the Sky Spire, don't you?" Blue Diamond asked. Pearl nodded. "As soon as the war's won, we'll go there. Just the two of us."

Pearl smiled wider.

"I'd like that."

*****

The meeting was taking longer than normal. At least, that's how it felt to Blue Pearl. All the Diamonds had gathered again, and while she kept to herself, Yellow and White had been talking nonstop about their courts. Today they had met in White Diamond's court. The antechamber in which they waited was everything Blue Pearl would have expected from White Diamond. The floor tiles were etched with a grand, swirling design and gleamed so brightly it hurt to look for too long. The columns and walls were similarly decorated, breathtakingly complex and elegant, with a beauty so sharp it felt overpowering. At least it was more interesting to look at than the crisp simplicity of Yellow Diamond's buildings. As Blue Pearl inspected a mythological bas relief running around the length of the room, Yellow Pearl was laughing hysterically at something while White stood beside her, arms crossed and looking unamused.

"Well, as I was saying, someone brought their Pearl forward for trying to join the rebellion," Yellow started once she regained her composure, "and of course my Diamond always makes an example of traitors, so one quick step-" at this, Yellow made a stomping motion and Blue felt slightly sick. "-and poof! Turned to dust. Only, her mistress forgot something."

"Which would be?" White asked dryly.

"She forgot to take back everything her Pearl had stored!" Yellow snickered as she leaned closer to White. "Do you know what she was keeping in her Gem?"

White shook her head and Yellow leered as she leaned even closer, right against the side of White's face, and whispered something that Blue couldn't hear. White let out a gasp as a deep pink blush bloomed across her face.

"It all popped out onto the floor, right for everyone to see! Oh, you should have seen the look on her mistress's face! Of course she tried to act like she had no clue where it all came from. She tried to claim her Pearl must have gotten them all on her own, but my Diamond was having none of it."

"How awful!"

"No," Yellow crowed, "The awful part was when my Diamond ordered her to pick it all up, with everyone watching her! She was escorted out carrying it all in her arms!"

Yellow cackled again.

"I doubt she'll do _that_ again anytime soon! Needless to say, that's why we don't smash Pearls in public anymore."

White Pearl didn't look amused. Her face had gone tight with barely controlled anger and her little fists trembled at her sides, aching with the desire for action. Blue slowly inched closer to Yellow and White, who kept ignoring her. She wasn't proud of it, but Blue had to admit that her curosity had been piqued.

"I don't want to hear about such sordid things," White hissed quietly.

Yellow huffed.

"Well, I don't see what the big fuss is about. "

"Of course you don't, you're not a real Pearl."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Yellow asked quietly.

"It means Pearls are above such vile things. We have a higher purpose, a calling which-"

"Oh, here we go," Yellow groaned.

"It _means_ that Pearls have a higher standard of decency, which you would know if you weren't some over-polished Peridot!" White snarled. Blue stopped inching closer. It'd been a long time since she'd seen White so upset over something. Yellow and White didn't always see eye to eye when it came to their roles, but this felt different.

"Excuse me?" Yellow snapped. "What I do is actually important! I-"

 "And you think what I do isn't?" White interrupted. "My body of work is the foundation of Pearl etiquette! Why, I was the one to train Blue and Pin-" White stopped herself, then started again, "I trained both Rose Quartz's and Blue Diamond's Pearls!"

 Blue gritted her teeth. There White went again, bringing up things Blue wished she'd keep to herself. Yellow turned to stare at Blue, giving her the once-over as if she'd discovered even more reasons not to like her. And really, what was there to say? Before she'd been given to her Diamond, before anything, Blue had been placed under White Pearl's guidance. Blue only assumed it was so White could sculpt her into her own image, a perfect Pearl. She'd failed on far too many counts, her nerves getting the best of her so often that White had finally given up trying make Blue like her and had tried instead to turn her into a decorative statue. It had been years before Blue had uttered a word in front of her Diamond. Pink Pearl had come before her, but Blue had no doubt that White had subjected Pink to her impossible standards too. Her inspection finished, Yellow refocused her attention on White.

 "Well how well did that go?" Yellow countered. "One's a rebel and the other's a piece of furniture."

 "That is not my fault. I did the best I could with the Gems I'd been given."

 "Oh, yes, wonderful job. Isn't that right?" Yellow drawled as she turned to Blue. "You're _such_ a success, aren't you?"

 "You leave her alone!" White barked. "She's just as her Diamond wanted her to be. Elegant, mysterious, tr-"

"Oh, she's just stupid!" Yellow snapped.

"I'm not stupid."

Yellow and White halted their argument to stare at her. Blue had had enough. She was tired of Yellow and White speaking about her like she wasn't there, like she wasn't worth their time. It had taken centuries for Blue Pearl to finally feel like she wasn't secretly defective. Her mistress loved her for what she was, flaws and all. Blue knew her faults; speaking was one of them, but stupidity was not.

"I am not stupid," she repeated. Yellow and White silently goggled at her in shock until White broke the silence.

"Well of course you're not, you're-"

"I'm not...mysterious either. I'm just...me."

 Neither of them seemed to know how to respond to her, and Blue Pearl wasn't sure what she would say if they did confront her. For the moment, she'd made her peace, but Yellow and White weren't finished with each other.

 "You think you're so much better than me?" Yellow hissed quietly. "At least my work actually matters. Who even cares about some... frou-frou dancing?"

 White Pearl had gone very still. Her body had gone stiff, but something had been alighted inside, threatening to break out. Blue suddenly thought of Turquoise's Pearl, the one who'd died almost a century ago, and the way she'd suddenly become possessed at the last moment. Her form no longer made of light, but electricity, alive and wild and threatening to break free. White had the same look to her now, radiant, terrifying, but contained in a way Turquoise's Pearl hadn't been.

"Let me make this very clear," White began, her quiet, musical voice suddenly taking on a dangerous tone.

"You weren't there for it. Neither were you," White whispered fiercely as she snapped to face Blue Pearl. "The First War, the one that never happened. But I was. My Diamond made me in that war. I watched as we burned everything to ash because there was nothing left worth saving. Because we wanted to erase _them_ and start new, as our own kind, with our own culture. We won, but had nothing left." 

Blue Pearl hung rapt on her words, on the transformation White had undertaken. Now, surrounded by the grandeur of her Diamond's palace, she seemed like something carved out of the walls, a mythical figure come to life.

"We built ourselves from the ground up. Every piece of our culture is sacred, ours and ours alone. I have spent my life in service to my people. Don't you ever think that beauty is worthless, because you haven't seen what an ugly world looks like."

"Pearl."

The spell was broken as all three heads snapped towards White Diamond, leaving from the inner chambers as Blue and Yellow Diamond followed. Blue spared a glance back to White Pearl. She no longer looked mythical, or frightening. She looked tiny and scared. She had said something she wasn't supposed to say, had told Yellow and Blue about something neither of them should have known. How much had White Diamond heard?

"Come to my side. You have a performance in one hour."

White Pearl smiled widely, as if she hadn't been terrified a moment ago and seething with rage a moment before that.

"Of course, my Diamond," she answered, padding quickly over. Yellow exchanged a glance with Blue. Yellow still looked frightened and baffled, and for once Blue was in agreement. White was an excellent Pearl. She was a much better actor than they were.

*****

There had been an attack against White Diamond. They had managed to make it past her guards and up to White Diamond herself. Blue Pearl didn't know the rest of the details, but every court had been on high alert since. Blue Diamond had ordered more personal guards to be trained in response. Pearl watched them out of curiosity while her mistress worked. The two current  guards, the one-eyed Jasper and her gem-chested compatriot, were sizing up a crowd of potential trainees.

"All right, listen up!" One Eye barked. "In case you haven't noticed, there's a war going on out there."

The cluster of Jaspers stood in front her. All of them were trying to look intimidating, but little tics singled some of them out. Eyebrows furrowed too tight or brawny chests stuck out too far. They were scared. They were scared and trying their best to hide it. One Eye and Chester paced around the crowd, sharp eyes scanning them like hungry animals.

"If these anarchist lunatics think they can get to the Diamonds, they've got another thing coming." Chester boomed.

Pearl looked over to Blue Diamond. She might have been able to fool the recruits as she languidly scrolled through a report, but Pearl and the guards knew she was always on alert. Her eyes were hidden, but Pearl was certain she was watching the proceedings closely. For her part, Pearl was still mulling over Yellow and White's argument. They'd clashed plenty of times in the past, but it was always over little things, trivial matters they'd forgotten by their next meeting. White was never easy to get along with on the best of occasions, but Yellow had crossed a line. As far as she was concerned, Blue wanted nothing to do with any of it.

"Left turn!" Chester barked.

"Right turn!" One Eye snapped.

Some of the recruits hesitated, and One Eye descended on them.

"You think this is a game? Any dimwit can be a soldier. If you want to be a guard, you need to be smarter than the average shard. Get out."

The shamed recruits slunk off and the drilling continued. Blue Diamond still hadn't looked up from her reports. Pearl drifted off into her thoughts. She wondered again about the First War that White had spoken of. Some part of her understood it in relation to what was happening now. It wasn't just that Pink Diamond was dead, it was that she never really existed. Her name had been banned from public use, her court dissolved and absorbed into those of the remaining Diamonds, and her depictions had been removed from public places. Even as she waged war below, Pink Diamond was slowly disappearing, overtaken by her new identity, Rose Quartz. Once she was defeated, there wouldn't be anything left of Rose either, except in the minds of those who recalled her. Blue wondered what White had seen in her war. If it was anything like this one, Blue understood more about why White had turned out the way she did.

It had only been a week, but the number of recruits had been cut from a pack of thirty to only a dozen or so. The rest had either been dismissed or left on their own accord. Pearl stood beside a statue as her Diamond spoke with One Eye about the remaining candidates. Chester was keeping watch at the doorway. Chester had been added as a guard shortly after Sapphire's defection, but One Eye had been around as long as Pearl herself, likely longer. Chester's attention remained fixed on the entrance, but One Eye kept glancing Pearl's way. She hated it.

Ever since Pink Pearl had destroyed her form that day on the Sky Spire, One Eye's attention always drifted back to Blue Pearl, as if the whole fiasco was somehow her fault.  Blue Pearl couldn't stand the scrutiny anymore. She retreated to a more secluded corner of the room, out of earshot and eyeshot.

Blue Diamond sat on her throne as she reviewed the latest assessment of potential guards. Her attention was briefly caught by her Pearl's movement to the back of the room. No matter how much she tried to shield her from the brunt of the damage, her Pearl was always on the receiving end of someone's bitter thoughts. Her one-eyed guard was no different. Having finished the reports, she made a motion to dismiss her, but Jasper remained in place.

"Permission to speak, my Diamond?" she asked quietly. Blue Diamond nodded. "We can train more guards, but there are other...lapses in security that remain unaddressed."

"Such as?"

One Eye nodded her head in the direction of Pearl.

"I'm not suggesting anything drastic." One Eye added quickly, holding up her palms in suppliance. "Just keeping her away from anything that shouldn't be heard or seen."

Even with a veil hiding Blue Diamond's piercing gaze, One Eye couldn't help but shrink down under her mistress's scrutiny. Her Diamond was a calm Gem, but One Eye was all too aware of what might happen to anyone unfortunate enough to anger her.

"And what would you suggest I do? Keep her in a box when she's not performing? Would you prefer her covered with a sheet?"

"I would prefer not to be stabbed in the back again." One Eye replied. Neither her nor Blue Diamond  wanted to be reminded of the incident at the Sky Spire. Blue Diamond had heard rumors of what Pink Pearl had become, but she hadn't believed it until the attack. The incident at the Sky Spire was more than just another guerilla strike. It was the beginning of something new, something that could spell the end of the society they'd worked so hard to build.

Blue Diamond had trusted Sapphire. After so many years, she still struggled to comprehend what could have caused her to suddenly flee. Had she been planning it? Had she lied about Rose's capture and the rebellion's end for her own gain? Had the Ruby been in on it? Had she been sympathetic to Rose's cause and taken the opportunity to finally defect and join her? Blue Diamond wished she knew. Anything to make more sense of the whole mess. But that was neither here nor there. What mattered now was protecting her Pearl while avoiding any suspicions.

"My Diamond, you heard about what happened with the assassination attempt, didn't you?" One Eye cautiously continued.

Of course she'd heard about the attempt. Blue Diamond had heard a hundred different accounts in a hundred different forms, but White herself refused to say. She kept brushing it off, which told Blue Diamond just how deeply it had impacted her.

"It was one of White Diamond's dignitaries who let the rebels in. The maniac thought she'd be able to usurp her position. We can't trust anyone right now."

"I do not appreciate your insinuation that my court isn't under my full control.  You do your job with the new recruits and leave the rest to me."

One Eye bowed deeply in acquiescence, knowing better than to push her Diamond any farther. In the end, four new Jaspers were hired. Blue Diamond didn't think it would make much difference, but when substance failed, appearance prevailed. Really, that was all anyone could do nowadays. All their attempts at preventing the subversive broadcasts from spreading had failed. The war was being fought as strongly as ever, and there were more worrying signs of unrest at home. For now, all Blue Diamond could do was keep up the appearance of normalcy as long as she could. Once that was gone, she could keep the appearance of security. After that, she wasn't sure.

*****

It had been over a month since White and Yellow Pearl had fallen out, and White still hadn't forgiven Yellow. When the Diamonds met, Yellow and White would simply stand on opposite sides of whatever building they were in and stayed there until their Diamonds came to fetch them. Sometimes one of them would stand by Blue, but mostly she'd be left to herself. Today, White Pearl had wandered over to where she stood while Yellow remained by the doors. Yellow turned once to look at them, but said nothing and turned away again.

Blue wanted to stay out of it, but in truth she hadn't completely forgiven White either.  After a few thousand years out from under White Pearl's 'guidance,' Blue had reached a point where she had been willing to move on, if not forget. But then White had to go and bring it up again, as if what she'd done was something to be proud of. Then again, if Yellow could have seen her back then, seen the way she'd constantly snap at Blue for the tiniest of mistakes, she probably would've slapped White on the back and congratulated her. Blue didn't like to think about it. She was trying her best not to think about it. But she also didn't know the next time she'd be alone with White, or if she'd still be angry enough to gather the nerve to finally confront her after all this blew over. Blue gathered all her resolve and spoke.

"Why did you tell her? About...us."

White blinked in surprise, staring at her in shock the way she did every time Blue spoke. White must have known where this conversation was heading, but after her initial jolt she went back to that look of serene calm she always held. Blue felt herself getting more upset. White wasn't bothered at all by this.

"You know I did the best I could for you," White offered.

"You made me miserable."

White looked surprised again, as if this was somehow a new revelation for her.

"I didn't care about how you felt, I was trying to keep you safe. You have to remember, you're a Diamond's Pearl. Everything I did for you was for your own protection. Do you think your mistress would have accepted you as a nervous, sputtering wreck?"

"My Diamond likes me as I am." Blue hissed, amazed at the fierceness of her own voice.

"Perhaps. But would she have given you a chance if she'd known from the start what you were like?"

And just like that, Blue's conviction wavered. She thought again to the first few years she'd spent with her mistress. Silent, passive, non-descript. She really had been like a piece of furniture back then, all on White Pearl's insistence. That was the Pearl her Diamond had known first, had eventually coaxed out of her shell. Had Blue Diamond loved the silent version of herself first and wanted more, or had she seen something more in her earlier self and come to love who Pearl had become? Would Blue Diamond have loved her if she'd been aware of all her faults up front, or would she have demanded a better replacement without giving her a chance? She didn't know. Her anger at White slowly dissolved, replaced by the familiar feeling of self-doubt. White looked almost sad for her.

"Don't ever forget what you are." White told her, "At the end of the day, you and I are Pearls. Your Diamond can think the world of you today and find you a nuisance tomorrow."

"Does...White Diamond think you're a nuisance?"

White Pearl didn't answer. She narrowed her eyes, as if she was trying to catch sight of something far away, something Blue couldn't find.

"I saw the end of the world, you know." White whispered after a time. Blue felt the hairs on the back of her neck begin to prickle again.

"The world was ending, and it was my duty to dance and smile like nothing was wrong. When my Diamond was exhausted, I was the one to lift her spirits. I made her happy. When war broke out again, I thought..."

White trailed off again, and Blue waited for her to continue.

"It's different now. She's very busy." White murmured, turning away from her. Blue was certain that was the end of it. White had said all she wanted to say, and Blue knew there was nothing she could do to steer the conversation back to her. Blue wasn't even sure if she wanted to hear more. Whatever White had lived through was something Blue would never fully understand, and something warned her that she wouldn't want to understand anyways. Instead, White turned back to her with an uncharacteristically gentle look.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad your mistress treats you well."

Blue wasn't sure how to respond, and for once White didn't push her. White shifter her attention over at Yellow again.

"It's just not the same is it? Since _she_ left."

Blue nodded. While they had never been friends like White and Yellow, Pink had always been kind to her. Pink was lively and fun without being overbearing. When she'd run away with Rose, everything became much more somber. Pink was a rebel, Blue knew this, but sometimes she still missed her.

"I adore Yellow, I really do, but she can be so.."

Sadistic. Crass. Pretentious. The words flitted through Blue's mind, but all she wound up doing was tilting her flattened palm from side to side in a gesture of ambivalence. White nodded vigorously.

"All she ever talks about is scandal this or punishment that or what she's doing for her Diamond. There's nothing wrong with that last one, but I really wish she would just broaden her mind a little bit. I just can't talk to her like I could with Pink. She knew a thing or two about aesthetics. It really was a shame she was defective. Do you remember how she could make a room light up?"

Of course Blue remembered. Pink was something different from the beginning. Original and spontaneous, her dances lacked the precision and technical mastery of White but excelled in their own right. In hindsight, perhaps her departure wasn't so surprising. Pink was always a little off for a Pearl, but that had been part of what made her such a good companion. Blue still recalled the months before Pink had fled, how she'd seemed uncharacteristically distracted and quiet. It made sense in retrospect, but at the time Blue didn't have any clue and was too timid to ask. She wondered though what Pink would have told her if she had asked.

"I certainly don't want you to think I approve of what she did, because I don't. It's only..." White paused in thought. "What she's doing, braving armies and facing down the might of Homeworld, all for her mistress. I admire her dedication to her craft, if nothing else. She understood what it means to be a Pearl."

Blue felt that she should say something. Something meaningful and insightful, something to bring this conversation to a neat close and make White finally respect her more. Blue tried to think of something, but the idea of Pink Pearl proved just as elusive as the real thing and Blue couldn't think of anything to add. White didn't seem surprised. She didn't even seem angry.

"No one understands what I do." White murmured. She turned to smiled at Blue, but it no longer seemed as effortless as before.

*****

It wasn't that much later when Yellow and White finally made amends. Blue had assumed everything would go back to normal. Yellow and White would carry on their own conversations and she'd be left alone, standing by herself. Blue Pearl was used to it. They were meeting in Blue Diamond's territory, at a newly constructed theatre not yet open to the public. Blue contended herself with tracing the swirling columns with her eyes while Yellow and White stood apart, talking in hushed tones.

"Blue!"

She jolted back to attention and turned to White, who was waving her over.

"Why don't you come over here? The skyline is just gorgeous."

Blue hesitantly made her way over to Yellow and White, stationed under an open arch in the ceiling. Blue craned her head up to stare out the opening. The rising suns scattered shadows on the buildings which rose above them while ships warped into dock far off in the distance. She was right. It was beautiful.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's now officially been confirmed that Rose Quartz was not, in fact, Pink Diamond. Nevertheless, this story will keep its course, 'Rose is Pink Diamond theory' and all. Fingers crossed that this story won't get even more non-canon before it ends!

Pearl hid underneath a statue and tried to keep calm. All around her Gems were rushing and shouting and dashing from console to console. Her one oasis from the havoc of war had finally been taken from her. Blue Diamond stood in the center of her chamber, barking orders.  No one paid any attention to Pearl. They were all too concerned about what had happened. Rose's forces had shut down the Kindergarten.

On two side by side screens, Yellow and White Diamond collaborated from their respective quarters. Pearl could see various Gems scuttling around in the background of their quarters too. The din of a hundred Gems from all three courts bombarded Blue Pearl. She dug her fingertips into her palms and kept trying in vain to block out all the noise.

"I want all available troops to converge on their location, NOW!" Blue Diamond roared.

"They already left. It was a hit and run mission," Yellow Diamond snapped back.

"I want everyone who was working at those facilities rounded up and smashed!" White Diamond bellowed. "This kind of negligence is treason!"

"You will _not_ touch any Gems from my court before I can question them," Yellow snarled as she stabbed a finger towards White.

"Why hasn't production resumed?" Blue Diamond boomed. A Topaz close to her jumped in shock and almost dropped her small display pad. "Well?"

"R-R-Rose locked us out. Executive command. No one except another Di-I, I mean, no one except a _real_ Diamond can restart the systems."

Blue Diamond looked as if she was ready to smash Topaz for the news. Topaz must have seen it too, by the way she was cowering in fear, body trembled and shook like she was destabilizing. Blue Pearl backed herself even further away, standing in a gap between the statue and a wall. She'd seen her Diamond angry plenty of times, that by itself wasn't upsetting. It was the chaos, all the screaming and dashing coming out all at once. The panic was infectious, but Blue Pearl could neither run nor scream. She could only stand still and wait for it all to be over.

It felt like years before all the excess Gems finally left and Blue Diamond turned off the connection to Yellow and White. Pearl poked her head out from behind the statue and watched as Blue Diamond slowly made her way to her palanquin. She jerked off the sheer fabrics covering it and simply let them pool to the ground. Pearl stared. She'd never seen her Diamond do that. The fabrics were always returned to their original places, draped across the walls. As Pearl watched, Blue Diamond collapsed onto the mattress and let out a quiet sigh. Pearl slowly made her way over to her Diamond, weaving her way around the crumpled fabric. She stood patiently and waited for a response.

"Sing for me," Blue Diamond murmured. Pearl bowed, paused to collect herself, then began.

She sang of the ocean. She hummed, low and quiet, the soft ambience of the dark water that had surrounded them. Her voice rose and fell, rose and fell again in gentle waves. Pearl switched to a sudden warble, the dash of bright fish across the gloom. Blue Pearl sank down into her song, into her vision, farther and farther. She sang of the waves, and more creatures, and temples dappled by undersea light. She sang of huge beasts and tiny creatures, and the all-encompassing calm of the sea.

Blue Pearl finished and slowly faded back to reality, her voice lingering in the great domed building before it too faded. Blue Diamond remained where she was, still captured by Pearl's spell. This was her one true talent. Blue Pearl didn't excel at much, but this was her domain. When she sang, everything flowed out of her with abundance. Songs of love and joy and sorrow and introspection, Pearl could take every emotion and clarify it into something real and defined. Blue Diamond herself had once told Pearl her voice was sweet enough to make a statue weep.

Pearl wasn't surprised when her Diamond beckoned her closer. Blue Pearl firmly believed that it was her voice that had lead her mistress to be enamored with her. She still remembered the first time she ever sang for Blue Diamond. That had been long ago, back when Pearl could barely say a few words out of sheer nerves. Back when White Pearl convinced her it was better to lead her Diamond into believing she was mute rather than a stutterer or a fool. Back then, she was either dancing or posing. That was all she did, and all she was. In truth, Pearl had started to become concerned that her Diamond was growing tired of her, the novelty of a silent, obedient dancer wearing thin. It must have simply been a whim on her Diamond's part to ask Pearl to sing. She had never done it before and White had no reason to think she even could. Blue Pearl didn't try to think of lyrics, or words. She voiced what she felt, something quiet and gentle, longing but cautious. She had closed her eyes and lost herself for the first time. For the first time in her life, she hadn't thought too much about how to look and act like a perfect Pearl. She had simply _been_. Blue Pearl would never forget the way her Diamond looked at her when she had reopened her eyes.

Blue Diamond scooped up Pearl and lay down on her back, eyes still turned upwards. Pearl cast a glance up too. Ever since they moved back home, Blue Diamond had retrofitted her old chambers to resemble the ones from Earth. Even the domed ceiling had new panels installed, capable of mimicking the underwater scenes from Earth. Those weren't turned on now, but Pearl could still see them in her mind's eye. Pearl pulled herself closer to her mistress, coming to rest her head under Blue Diamond's chin. Blue Diamond stroked her hair and Pearl did the same, twirling her fingers around the long strands beneath her fingertips.

Sometimes it was hard for Pearl to imagine that a being like Blue Diamond could actually need comfort like this. She certainly couldn't imagine any of the other Diamonds being like this, needing rest and comfort and kind touches. They controlled all of Gemkind, they couldn't afford to be tired or tender. But then, who among Blue Diamond's court could imagine her like this? Lying prone and curled up with her Pearl? Pearl wrapped her arms around her Diamond's neck and buried her face in her hair. She was the only one in the whole universe who had this privilege. Pearl was exhausted and felt more overwhelmed by this knowledge. She found herself tearing up without fully understanding why.

Blue Diamond said nothing and kept running her fingers through Pearl's hair and down her body. In time, Pearl began to feel herself unwind. She turned back out towards the room and rested her face in the crook of Blue Diamond's shoulder. She took up toying with her Diamond's hair again and let herself relax in her mistress's embrace.

"I suppose there's no helping it. I'll have to go back down to Earth."

Blue Diamond had said this, but made no move to rise from her spot. Pearl was content to stay where she was, curled up in the space between her Diamond's chin and shoulders. One of her arms wrapped behind Blue Diamond's neck and she idly ran her fingers though her mistress's fine, silky hair. She really wished Blue Diamond didn't have to go. It had been dangerous enough under the sea. On land there would be so many more rebels, so many more chances that her Diamond might accidentally meet...

Blue Pearl stopped, letting her Diamond's hair fall from her fingers. White Pearl's voice rang through her mind as she suddenly recalled something White had said years ago.

_What they ought to do is trap them. Stop production...Induce them to target those areas. Then!_

The decisive tap of White Pearl's fist in her hand echoed through Blue's mind and turned her body cold. It was a trap. It had to be. Blue Diamond finally made a motion to rise and before Pearl could stop herself, she grabbed her Diamond's veil in her hands, tugging slightly to stop her. As the veil began to fall from her head, Blue Diamond halted and for a moment Pearl felt the full weight of her Diamond's piercing scrutiny. Pearl loosened her grasp with shaking hands. Her Diamond's veil was never to be removed without permission. This was one of the few sacred rules Blue Diamond held in their relationship, and Pearl had just broken it. Her first instinct was to assume the proper Pearl role, bowing deeply and begging forgiveness for her transgression. Instead, Pearl whispered,

"You can't go."

Blue Diamond continued to stare at her in icy silence and Pearl felt herself shrinking down. All the Diamonds had a dazzling gaze, but it was only up close like this that one could see why. Their irises were concave, with four-pointed pupils at the very back. This by itself was already striking, but it was the way her eyes looked illuminated that made them so beautiful and frightening. Blue Diamond's irises were deep and sparkling, every little concave facet seemed lit by a tiny fire that burned from within. When Blue Diamond was happy, Pearl loved to look into her eyes and watch the light catch them. But at the moment, Pearl felt herself frozen underneath their radiance.

"Explain."

"They did it on purpose. One of you will have to go down." Pearl paused to sort out her thoughts, then continued. "Sapphire's a rebel. She could see the future. They'd know. If you went. How they could..."

The anger went out of Blue Diamond's eyes as she studied Pearl curiously.

"Do you really believe Rose would go that far? Rose's kindergarten was her passion. I never saw her as happy as when she was running it. Do you honestly think she'd shut down something she loved so?"

"The Kindergarten...never belonged to Rose. It belonged to Pink Diamond. I think...I think they know what it means to us too. They know a Diamond will have to fix it. It's their best chance to...kill one of you."

Her Diamond kept studying her and Pearl stared back in a mix of fear and anticipation. Blue Diamond rose and set Pearl back down on the floor. Pearl clasped her hands together, terrified that she'd finally overstepped her boundaries. She'd gone too far this time. She'd forgotten her place and acted so improperly that her Diamond had finally had enough. She really was stupid; she'd ruined their relationship and tricked herself into assuming she could just do as she pleased without regard for-

"Thank you," Blue Diamond murmured. Pearl snapped out of her introspective assault to face her mistress, whose back was still turned to her. "It seems I was on the verge of doing something reckless."

"Forgive me," Pearl whispered.

"It's already done."

The rest of the Diamonds weren't as understanding. Pearl remained hidden close to the palanquin while Blue Diamond called to informed the others of her decision. From her spot, she could see her mistress but not the screens for the other Diamonds.

"This is not acceptable!" White barked, "We cannot allow our Kindergarten to fall to ruin! Do you care at all about the effect on morale? How can we claim to be winning this war if we let our biggest operation be shut down by enemy forces?"

"I agree with Blue Diamond," Yellow interjected. "The whole venture was suspicious from the start. There's no reason to be taking stupid risks. The war will be over soon and we can restart Gem production once that happens."

Pearl could practically hear White Diamond fuming. Even though White couldn't see her, Pearl stepped farther back behind the palanquin. White Diamond's temper was the worst of the Diamonds by far. Calling her a perfectionist didn't come close to what she was. White Diamond had a very clear vision about every minute detail in her realm and violently rejected anything less. Those who pleased her were showered with wealth and prestige beyond the likes of Blue and Yellow's court, but it came with the price of White Diamond's endless scrutiny. The smallest mistake would not be forgiven, and the aristocrat of today could find herself a mineworker tomorrow.

If White Diamond had been capricious before the war, she'd become violently paranoid now. Ever since the failed attack on her life, White Diamond had become more unseated, seeing conspirators among her court and treason tainting every move of her troops. Every call Pearl overheard contained the same accusations of incompetence, treason, and a demand for extreme response.

"We are failing because we've been holding back. We've been acting this whole time like Rose can be captured and restored to reason. It's deluded! Pink Diamond is dead. Our sister is gone and Rose killed her. This war is a test of our leadership and we're failing. We didn't win our freedom by being made of glass!"

"We _do not_ speak of that," Blue Diamond hissed with a ferocity that made Pearl flinch. White Diamond paid her no mind and continued.

"The only path to victory is the one of no hesitation. We recall our troops and blast the whole planet into ruin. What is not worth saving, we burn."

White Pearl's words echoed in Blue's mind again as she unconsciously felt herself creeping nearer. The First War. It was her Diamond who turned on White.

"If you think the Earth is not worth saving, then you've let your temper blind you. We have never found a planet to rival its sheer abundance and variety of resources. You would destroy something that could provide an unparalleled bounty all to stroke your damn flail."

"Of greater importance is controlling the spread of Rose's tainted ideas," Yellow Diamond added. "What's the purpose of sending every available solider to the front if they all come back with Rose's doctrine filling their heads? The more troops we send, the more Gems we expose to this radicalism. It's far better to send as few troops possible and vet every single one for their loyalty. Winning this war is a matter of precision, not brute force."

Blue Pearl clutched a leg on the palanquin tightly in preparation for White Diamond to explode. She could practically hear her booming voice rattling the shelves and sending ripples through the draperies. Instead, White Diamond was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Well. It seems I've made a mistake. I had thought we were united against Rose and her anarchists, but instead you two are just united against me."

"Now, Sister," Blue started.

"I don't want to hear it." White interrupted. "Both of you have been consistently clear in your intentions towards me. I just want you to remember that I am your sister, not your opponent. I will do everything in my power to protect my court, just the same as you two. If you want to forget what we had to do for our people, that is your prerogative."

There was a click as a transmission ended. Blue Diamond sighed and shook her head.

"I'll speak with her," Yellow Diamond said, "You know what she's like when she gets too far into her head."

"Thank you."

There was another click and Pearl was alone with her Diamond. Her mistress looked over to her and Pearl drew back behind the palanquin again. That was the kind of personal call she wasn't supposed to overhear. She really couldn't do anything right today.

"I wish you had not heard that," Blue Diamond said as she drew closer. She came to rest back on the mattress of the palanquin while Pearl remained outside it, separated from her Diamond by the covered panels and sheer fabric.

"I'm sorry," Pearl offered, but it didn't feel like enough. Through the panels and drapery, Pearl could see her Diamond shaking her head. Pearl's anxiety bloomed again and rooted her in place, remaining silent while Blue Diamond spoke.

"Pink Diamond was not our sister. The three of us made her right at the war's end."

Blue Diamond waved a hand and a small bubble of water rose from the filigree vase and into Blue Diamond's upturned palms. Her gem glowed and by some magical effort, the water bubble collapsed slightly and began to bead through her fingers like a pile of sand.

"We held the ruins of our old world in our palms and transmuted it into something new. After all the death and devastation, we wanted something to represent our new society. A symbol of life and health and rebirth."

As she spoke, Blue Diamond cupped the water in her hands and squeezed, the light of her gem glowing brighter as she did so. Pearl was transfixed as she watched, her own Gem  pulsing in nervous excitement. Blue Diamond uncupped her hands, revealing an icy semblance of Pink Diamond's gem. The 'gem' quickly transformed into a miniature version of Rose and Pearl couldn't help but feel an otherworldly, awe-filing wonder and fright.

"We called her Pink Diamond and carved out a space for her alongside us. We loved her as a sister, but she wasn't one of us. I think she always felt it too. We started calling her Rose Quartz as an insult, but I think it was who she was meant to be all along."

The water effigy of Rose collapsed again, and Blue Diamond returned the free-floating bubble of water back to the vase. Blue Diamond turned to Pearl, looking expectant. Pearl was filled with so many questions they all simply buzzed through her in an incoherent swarm. She'd been given a glimpse into something old, something beyond her understanding. It would take a lifetime to sort out the whole tangled mess, and Pearl felt that her window to ask was narrowing by the second. She asked the first thing that popped into her mind.

" _Do_ you think Pink Diamond is dead?"

It was not the kind of question her mistress had expected, but to Pearl's surprise she answered nonetheless.

"Yes, but I don't know if my sister is gone too."

Pearl nodded, even though she felt just as overwhelmed as before.

In the end, the Diamonds had settled on a compromise for the Kindergarten situation by constructing a new one in an isolated part of the planet. According to the predictions of Yellow Diamond's advisors, they'd have a fresh batch of Gems ready to fight in about 400 years. Not that anyone believed the war wouldn't be won before then, they'd been quick to add. Only that the first batch would come out of the ground in that time.

Pearl hated to think about it, but she wondered if the war really would be won by that point. All anyone said was that the war would be over soon, and they'd been saying that for hundreds of years now. The frenzied chaos was already starting to feel like a new sort of normal, and it made Blue Pearl a little ill to admit it. She understood that nothing would go back to the way it was before the rebellion, but the post-war future still seemed impossibly far away. The present seemed insurmountable, but Blue Pearl still had only one option. To wait and see what the future would bring.


	6. Chapter 6

Yellow Diamond had said the war would be finished soon, but another century and a half had passed and the war still raged on. Most times now, Pearl wasn't allowed to stand directly behind her Diamond while she worked. She had to stand off to the side, where she couldn't see the screens. The only thing Blue Pearl could see was how her Diamond's face cycled through anger, horror, and exhaustion. Sometimes her Diamond would wave her away out of hearing range while she spoke with Gems stationed on Earth. Blue Pearl knew better than to feel curious. No matter what she might see or hear, it would all be incomprehensible to her in the end. The vast machinations of life and death and war and peace existed on a scale she could never understand. All that mattered to Pearl existed in this room. She was kept ignorant of the grisly details, and Pearl was glad for it.

There was a meeting in Yellow Diamond's court, and Blue Diamond had brought all of her guards. They walked in a circle around the palanquin, with Chester on Blue Pearl's side. Blue Pearl didn't know why a Jasper like Chester had become a guard. Only the most elite of the elite could become personal guards, and of those elite, only six Jaspers in the whole Gem empire were among Blue Diamond's guards. Chester didn't come across as one of those elite. She was strong, certainly, and she had an unparalleled knack for reading Gems she met. No one with ill intentions could hope to trick her. She was quick-witted and lacked the usual brashness of most Jaspers. But being a guard meant a lonely life. Her duty was to protect her Diamond at all times, for the rest of her existence. She would never have a personal life. No friends, no comrades, no lovers, nothing but her job. It was a duty that suited One Eye, but not Chester.

Sometimes Pearl was convinced that Chester was just a maroon-banded Amethyst rather than a Jasper. One Eye was all business, but Chester was mostly business, partly pleasure. She smiled often and made conversation and jokes when she met with other Gems. One Eye still looked at Blue Pearl like she was ready to snap and rebel any minute, but Chester had long since gone back to paying her little heed. Sometimes Chester would offer a little bit of small talk, something about the building they were in or something they all saw on the way there. Pearl never answered her, but Chester never seemed upset and never stopped offering little quips. The only thing Blue Pearl didn't like about Chester was the way she addressed her. Even though Pearl was certain that Chester was younger than her, whenever Chester spoke to her she always took a tone that one would use for a Gem fresh out of the ground. Pearl didn't dislike Chester, but she had never felt the need to respond to someone who treated her like a  imbecile.

Once they'd reached their meeting place, Pearl stepped down from the palanquin and Blue Diamond continued into the room alone. The Jaspers crowded around the entrance, intermingling with Yellow and White Diamonds' respective guards. Yellow and White Pearl were off by themselves, leaving Blue alone. They'd made an effort over the last few centuries to try and include her in their conversations sometimes, but White and Yellow were two halves of a talkative whole. Blue appreciated their efforts, but court gossip wasn't her thing. She stood by herself, taking in what little there was to observe. Yellow Diamond's structures were distinct, that was for certain. The architecture and furnishings were sparse, stripped to the bare minimum. Every column, angle, or archway had a purpose without being overly embellished. It seemed simple at first glance, but a careful observation revealed a subtle art to the whole thing. Blue was so focused on the way the overhead lights casted a shadow across an entrance that she almost didn't notice the shadow suddenly cast over her.

She turned to her right and was face to gem with Chester.

"This place is a real piece of work, isn't it?"

Pearl nodded once at Chester and went back to staring at the doorway.

"I'm not one for frills and curliques, but this place just feels dead, you know?"

Pearl didn't know, and shrugged half-heartedly. She looked over to White and Yellow, who were still engrossed in their own conversation.

"You're wasting your time on that one. She doesn't speak."

Pearl and Jasper turned to the guard who'd spoken, one belonging to White Diamond.

"Could you swap your Diamond's Pearl for ours?" One of Yellow Diamond's guards chimed, earning her a chorus of quiet chuckles.

"A Pearl?" Another guard added,  "What are you talking about? Yellow Diamond would never own a Pearl. That's just a lanky Peridot in a leotard!" There was an explosion of raucous laughter as one guard slapped the other on the back and wiped away a tear.

Blue looked over to White and Yellow. Yellow was glaring at the Jaspers while White held her shoulder. Blue wasn't sure if this gesture was meant as a comfort or as a restraint. When Yellow turned to look at her, off by herself with Chester, Blue felt a pang of guilt. Leaving Chester, Blue went over to stand by White and Yellow. Still holding on by the shoulder, White made a motion to turn them both away from the guards.

"You shouldn't let them treat you like that." White hissed quietly. "If you tell your Diamond about the kind of things they said, those Jaspers will be sent to the front before they can blink-if they're lucky."

Yellow Pearl scoffed.

"I'd take that kind of talk any day over what I normally hear."

"What...do you hear?" Blue asked. Yellow Pearl sighed dramatically and waved a hand.

"Oh, you know. Gems telling me they'll smash me, or dissipate my form, or knock me so hard my particles will turn to waves, that sort of thing."

There was a dead silence before White screeched "THEY _WHAT_?," turning all heads towards her.

"You don't have to shout. And really, it can't be helped. I've told you that I manage Yellow Diamond's affairs. Everyone thinks they have a good reason to meet with her, and I assure you, most don't. It's my job to sort out the riff-raff _and_ decide  who gets priority. You try telling a captain that her request for more shale has to wait until next month and see how well she takes it."

White and Blue stared at her in shock. Blue had no idea Yellow took such an active role in her Diamond's life. When she said she managed Yellow Diamond's affairs, Blue always assumed Yellow was only keeping track of things she'd been told. To be in a position where she had control over who gained access to Yellow Diamond was a degree of power unheard of in a Pearl. Maybe the Jaspers really were onto something.

*****

Restless. Blue Pearl wasn't sure if there was a better word for it, but she was restless. She felt like a spring had coiled up inside her and refused to unwind, gathering energy and burning hotter and hotter. Her Diamond had been working on some report for hours, possibly over a day. It was hard to tell the passage of time in Blue Diamond's inner quarters, but in Pearl's state it felt like decades.

Pearl tried to ignore the burning sensation and craned her head to look up at the ceiling. After they moved back home, Blue Diamond had remodeled her chambers to resemble the ones from Earth, complete with a domed ceiling that displayed holograms of Earth's ocean. The simulation of a vast beast passed overhead, but without a shadow to cast, the illusion felt incomplete.

Blue Pearl began to tap a forefinger on her knuckle as she allowed her mind to wander. She knew exactly what she wanted, but Pearl didn't know if Blue Diamond was in the mood. Pearl was never sure how to approach this topic with her mistress. Usually it was easy enough; her Diamond would beckon her and Pearl would try not to trip over her own feet on her dash to the bed. At times like this though, Blue Pearl was in the dark. She didn't know how to initiate, or if her Diamond would even acquiesce.

Pearls weren't even supposed to be like this. White Pearl had told her plenty of times that Pearls were pure beings, completely devoid of baser feelings and desires. That may have applied to White, but Blue Pearl had felt desire for as long as she'd known her Diamond, and she suspected Pink Pearl was the same. How was she supposed to practice proper etiquette when their whole relationship was a taboo on multiple levels? In the end, Blue Pearl usually waited for her Diamond. Today was not one of those days.

Her Diamond was still engaged in her work, and Blue Pearl wouldn't think of interrupting. If, however, Blue Diamond just happened to look over and got a certain idea into her head, then Pearl would be more than happy to oblige. Pearl silently padded across the room until she was standing beside the right palanquin. Her Diamond had two models, one was strictly for business and contained nothing inside but a throne to sit. The other was a recreational model which rarely left the room. There was a circular mattress filling the inside, allowed Blue Diamond to sit, recline, or lie down depending on her whims.

Blue Diamond still hadn't looked up from her work. Blue inched closer and remained in front of the palanquin, just within her Diamond's peripheral vision and waited. It was not, perhaps, her most subtle move.

It seemed like ages before her mistress finished with her work. The screen flickered off and Blue Diamond scanned the room for Pearl. Their covered eyes met and Pearl did her best to hide a blush threatening to bloom across her face. Blue Diamond approached with a deliberate slowness, coming stand over Pearl and the palanquin. She was well aware of what Pearl wanted, but decided to play along anyway.

"Is there something on your mind, my Pearl?"

"You've been working so hard...perhaps you'd like a break?" Pearl inquired shyly. A smile tugged at Blue Diamond's lips.

"I can't afford to do that right now. You know I have a meeting shortly."

"I can be quick!" Blue Pearl blurted out. She popped a hand over her mouth and Blue Diamond blinked rapidly in surprise. Pearl was shocked at the sudden admission, but her mistress smiled wider and said,

"Well. I don't suppose I could turn down an invitation like that."

As Blue Diamond met with her advisor fifteen minutes later, a now-unwound Blue Pearl contentedly reflected on the fact that while she was not a Gem of many words, she was at least capable of keeping it.

They were rarely intimate anymore. While their affair hadn't necessarily been easy before the war, it had at least been manageable. While she was in her quarters, Blue Diamond had been in the habit of occasionally making her visitors wait a while before she saw them. To some degree, it certainly aided in the air of mystique she cultivated for herself. Part of it was simply so that no one was ever suspicious if they needed time to look decent. Before the war, it would have been unthinkable for someone to rush into Blue Diamond's chamber unannounced. Now Blue Diamond couldn't afford to keep anyone waiting for no reason, and there was always the risk of being interrupted. The threat of being caught was simply too great. The only thing to be done was learning how to get a quick one in.

 

*****

Everyone was in high spirits today. The news had broken that part of Rose's army had split into their own faction. A group of Gems created on Earth, mostly Amethysts, Citrines, & Agates, had declared their independence from Homeworld and vowed to fight for Earth as their rightful domain. The Diamonds couldn't have been happier. Rose had always made a big show about protecting the native species and this new faction only cared about taking Earth for themselves, natives be damned. It was inevitable that they'd clash sooner or later, and anything that broke the power of Rose's army was a welcome relief.

A  group of high-ranking Gems from Earth had been given clearance to warp back up to discuss this development with the Diamonds. As a special reward for the occasion, White Pearl was to perform for them. Yellow and Blue had been made to remain in the lobby while White prepared. One group of Amethysts had already arrived, with two more due to arrive soon. In the mean time, they'd gotten comfortable with the guards. The large antechamber echoed with the braying laughter of the quartzes.

When Pink Diamond's court had dissolved, all her Gems were split among the remaining Diamonds. Yellow Diamond got the Jaspers and Blue Diamond got the Amethysts. Pearl would have preferred it the other way around. Jaspers were driven, dour, and had a reputation for loyalty above and beyond other Quartzes. Amethysts were the opposite. They were loud, brash, and smiled easily. Blue Pearl had overheard only three dirty jokes in her lifetime, all of them originating from Amethysts who apparently never heard about the concept of whispering. In the hour span in which she and Yellow had remained in the vicinity of Chester and the new Earth Gems, Blue Pearl had just heard five more, with Chester wrapping up a sixth.

"-And that's when she said, 'an Amethyst? More like an Ame-'"

"Do you _mind_?" Yellow Pearl finally snapped.

"Oh, go stuff it up your Gem!" One of the Amethysts snarled. The others cackled in response and Yellow looked ready to commit murder.

"At least White's not here," Blue offered. When Yellow turned her death glare to her, Blue elaborated. "She hates... this kind of talk. She'd be livid."

"I hope all those stupid brutes get smashed," Yellow grumbled.

Blue looked over to the Amethysts, who'd suddenly stopped laughing. They were all staring at something in the entryway. Their attention was drawn to a pack of quartzes who'd just entered the room. An Amethyst the size of a small meteorite marched in front, dwarfing even the largest of her comrades by comparison.

"Look at the size of that monster," Yellow breathed quietly. Blue could only stare. The Amethyst glared as she gave the room a once-over, stopping suddenly when she caught sight of Chester.

"Hey!" The Amethyst boomed, jabbing a finger the size of Pearl's thigh towards Chester, "What's a miscolored piece of slag like you doing as a guard?"

All eyes darted to Chester, who didn't seem worried in the least.

"I don't know," she shot back, planting her hands on her hips. "What's a fat piece of coprolite like you doing as a general?"

The silence that followed was profound enough to hear atoms buzzing about. The sea of Quartzes parted for Chester, leaving her to face the wrath of the Amethyst alone. The Amethyst sucked in a deep breath which served the sole purpose of making her massive frame expand even further and stalked across the room towards Chester. The Quartzes from Earth scattered away, but the guards remained by her side, looking uneasy. By the excited look on Yellow's face, Blue suspected that she was facing imminent destruction. Blue dug her fingers into her palms and glanced over to the exit. If a brawl did break out, she wondered how fast she could make a dash to flee. The Amethyst came to stand inches from Chester, leaned down and growled,

"You're a _reeeal_ brave one, huh?"

"I had to get it from somewhere," Chester replied.

For a moment, there was silence. Then the Amethyst slapped Chester on the back with a palm as big as Blue Diamond's face and barked out a deep laugh. A flood of relief washed into the room as the Amethyst turned to One Eye.

"Hey! It was your job to keep her in line!"

One Eye shrugged.

"This is an improvement. Do you remember what she was like when she came up here?"

The Amethyst barked out a laugh again.

"How could I not?"

Blue patted Yellow on the back, but it didn't do much to dampen Yellow's disappointment. The Amethyst still had one arm slung across Chester's shoulders while she gesticulated some story with the other. The tension slowly melted out of the room, but many still shot nervous glances over to the Amethyst, clearly uneased by the whole incident. Pearl was just as confused as any of them. They had to have known each other from somewhere, but that still didn't explain much.

Pearl had never seen Gems acting so familiar with each other. Even now the Amethyst reached down to roughly muss Chester's hair and Chester was beaming brighter than a comet. Perhaps that was normal for Quartzes. Then again, perhaps not. From  time to time, someone would shoot a dark glance towards the pair. Chester and the Amethyst may not have seen it, but the look of disapproval was clear to Blue Pearl.

"What do you think it means?" Blue asked.

"Who cares about those savages?" Yellow answered. "Honestly, White's talent is wasted on those animals."

Blue turned back to Chester. She wasn't Blue's favorite Gem by any means, but she'd definitely become one of the more interesting ones.

*****

It was about two months later that Blue Pearl got the chance to find some answers.  One Eye was off training the new guards and Blue Diamond was in a conference call with some Gems from her Sea Spire.  When her mistress worked, Pearl had free reign of Blue Diamond's quarters. Pearl had spotted Chester standing by herself near the open doorway. She was all alone

It was hard enough for her to talk to the other Pearls. Blue knew that no matter what she did, it was going to be difficult for her to find the words she wanted to say. Chester already treated her like she was a fool and Pearl hadn't said a word to her yet. The stars only knew how Chester would react when she would have to keep halting to form a sentence. Despite all this, Pearl knew it was likely her only chance to get answers. If she didn't try now, she doubted there'd be an opportunity in the future. Taking a quick glance at her Diamond, who was still absorbed in her call, Pearl silently padded over to the open door.

Chester's eyes were on her as soon as she cleared the threshold. Pearl steeled herself by taking a moment to look at the antechamber she was now in. Fluted columns encircled the space and a beautiful mosaic decorated the floor. Pearl stared at the pattern and gathered her resolve.

"Well. I don't see you out here much by yourself."

Of course it was Chester who spoke first. Blue Pearl had no doubt that was going to happen. Maybe this was all a mistake. Why was she even out here? Why did the Amethyst even matter? She _didn't_ matter, but the mystery lingered. Pearl spent her existence observing the lives of others in passing. Whenever something out of the ordinary happened, she had no choice but to accept it for what it was and move on. This was her first opportunity to finally get some kind of answer, and Blue Pearl decided to take it. She clenched her fists and finally spoke.

"I...I have a question."

One sentence and Chester was already gaping at her like she sprouted another head. Before she could interject, Pearl quickly asked,

"The Amethyst. Who...was she?"

"What, you never heard the rumors about me?"

Pearl shook her head. Chester leaned down and smiled at her.

"That I was an early riser?," she asked with a sly grin.

This was supposed to mean something, but Pearl didn't know what. Chester waited for a response, but Pearl couldn't provide one. The reference was lost on her. Chester tried again.

"I was cut from a different stone? I came out of a hole twice?"

Pearl still had no clue what Chester meant, and it was starting to irritate her. Chester must have caught on, because she straightened up and put on a bigger dirt-eating grin than Blue had ever seen on her.

"Oh, I'm not the first one to explain all this to you, am I? See, when a Jasper and an Amethyst-"

At this, Chester made an obscene gesture with her hands, causing Pearl to blush. "-a Jasper finds herself sorting through all the red tape for a soil acquisition request and a decade or two later, I pop out of the ground. That's not too vulgar an explanation for a pretty little thing like you, is it?"

Pearl stared at Chester in shock as the pieces fell into place.

"You were...incubated."

"There you go. So a Pearl does know a thing or two about the outside world."

"That Amethyst. She was..." Pearl trailed off, unsure of how to word it. She didn't know the vocabulary involved for the Gem who got another incubating. She didn't like it. She disliked proving Chester's point that she was ignorant or naive somehow, especially about this topic.

"Responsible for this gift to Gemkind?" Chester finished for Pearl, indicating herself, "Yes, that's her."

"You said, 'Early Riser.' You...only took decades?"

Chester nodded and tapped her gem.

"That's how it works. The poor saps who get manufactured have to absorb all their energy from the Kindergarten. That's why they take so long. For lucky Gems like me, someone else already funneled in most of the energy I needed to form while I was still cooking. I just needed a little time to finish up in the ground and then, pop! It's all very fascinating, isn't it?"

Pearl nodded slowly as she took it all in. She had always assumed her eggs had hatched out after a few hundred years, like other Gems. Instead, they'd been out long before the war officially started. She wondered if they were still on Earth when it went into lock-down, or if they'd made it off planet before then. If they were still on Earth, were they safe from the fighting? Did their mistresses take good care of them? Did they even have mistresses? Before she could get too far into her thoughts, Chester interrupted Pearl's reverie.

"I have to admit, I didn't even think Pearls got curious. All you do is stand around all day."

 "So do you," Blue Pearl snapped. For a moment, Chester looked astonished. Then she quickly burst into laughter.

"You really are a little firecracker once you open up, aren't you? Well, color me impressed."

Pearl's frustration was reaching a boiling point. She had tried to prep herself for this, but she wasn't used to being angry. At some point, the information Chester could provide wasn't worth the hassle of dealing with her derogatory talk. A few more questions and she'd have heard enough from Chester to last a few lifetimes.

"Is that why you're like an Amethyst?"

Chester grinned wider and shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm the best of both Gems."

"But...you _are_ a Jasper."

"Through and through. What, you really didn't know any of that?"

"No," Pearl whispered, the admission tasting bitter on her tongue. She'd experienced incubation first hand, yet she knew only the most basic information supplemented by her own ordeal. She suddenly hated Chester for knowing more about this topic than she did. White Pearl had trained Blue to handle many situations with dignity and grace, but the desire to smack the dirt-eating grin off Chester's face was not one of them. Pearl found that this was a very hard desire to tamp down.

"Ah well. It's nothing a pretty Pearl like you ever has to think about," Chester told her as she reached down to pat Blue on the head. She couldn't take it anymore. Before she could even think, Pearl slapped Chester's hand away.

"Don't touch me," Pearl hissed as she stepped away from her. She had never felt so blindingly furious as she was now. Part of her almost wanted Chester to talk down to her once more, call her pretty or little one more time so she'd have an excuse to hit her. How dare Chester talk down to her like she knew nothing? She hated her. She hated that Chester knew more than her about this and was intent on rubbing Pearl's nose in it. She had touched something raw, something Pearl tried her best to keep hidden and buried. She despised Chester for revealing her ignorance, and wanted to hurt her for it. But then, a greater part of her was afraid. What if Chester hit her back or worse, thought she'd gone rogue? Pearl's anger was flushed with a fresh wave of fear as she stepped further away, closer to the entrance. Chester made a motion towards her and Pearl jumped backwards, bumping into the massive door. Chester stopped and slowly raised her palms to her sides.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I didn't think you'd get mad."

Pearl was still sick to the brim with anger and fear. Her hand gripped the edge of the doorway to stop it from shaking as she glared at Chester.

"Don't ever touch me." Pearl hissed. Chester nodded in a slow, baffled way. Pearl made her way back inside, too wound up to deal with the situation any longer.

"Are all Pearls like you?" Chester called after her.

Blue turned back and shook her head.

"The others would have their Diamonds smash you."

Chester didn't know what to say about that.

*****

Indecent. That's what they had called it. It had happened many, many centuries ago, but Blue Pearl had just put the pieces together now. When an aristocrat had suddenly stopped attending court, they'd said it was because she was 'indecent.' She'd been gone for months and then was suddenly back, somehow decent again. Pearl hadn't known what they'd really meant until now, until she could link it all together. She'd been incubating, and that was what had made her 'indecent.' Blue Pearl still felt agitated and restless, her mind caught up in Chester and the revelations she'd provided. She was lying on the mattress while her Diamond toyed with her hair, but Blue Pearl couldn't bring herself back into the moment.

She knew logically that she wasn't the only Gem to ever incubate, but Blue Pearl had always felt isolated in her experience. Before Chester, she'd never heard anyone speak of it, or known how other Gems dealt with the situation. She'd never even seen another Gem incubating, and it wasn't something that was easy to hide. She still remembered what she'd looked like, close to the end. Roly-poly was not an adjective Blue Pearl wanted to use for herself ever again. 

"Pearl," her Diamond hissed sharply, drawing back with a jolt. "You're not-"

Blue Pearl snapped back to the present, suddenly aware that she'd been stroking her belly.

"No!" She quickly exclaimed, jerking her hands up in the air, away from her midsection. "No, I was just thinking."

The panic in Blue Diamond's eyes faded, but Pearl's unease remained. Way back then, Blue Diamond had told Pearl it was her choice whether she wanted to go through with it all or not. Pearl's only concern had been her Diamond's reaction; since Blue Diamond hadn't minded, Pearl hadn't either. Pearl sometimes wondered if her Diamond regretted it. Somewhere out in the Gem empire were three Pearls made by her and Blue Diamond.

As much as Pearl told herself to be thankful for all that her Diamond had done for her and their offspring, there was always a nagging feeling that the whole event was something her mistress had wanted to bury and forget. She tried to tell herself otherwise, that it was because Blue Diamond felt the same as her. That on a good day thinking about them left a dull ache and on a bad day it was acutely painful and left her anxious with questions and hollow with the knowledge that she'd never get answers anyway. The essential difference was that she was a pearl and her mistress was a Diamond. If Blue Diamond wanted answers, she received them. Either she knew and never told her, or she'd never wanted to know in the first place.

"Why...did you let me incubate?"

If the question surprised Blue Diamond, she didn't show it. She regarded Pearl for a long time in that intense, inscrutable way of hers before answering.

"Things were different back then. We still had a firm grip on the Earth and no reason to believe Rose's forces wouldn't be overtaken eventually. It was an excellent colony that was already incubating thousands, with enough ready to take form that ours wouldn't stand out. I had thought it would be a simple matter. They could be hidden and live out their lives peacefully on Earth."

"But that's not what happened."

"What's done is done."

In the past, Blue Diamond's statement had been comforting. It felt like acceptance. Now it sounded like an obstacle meant to be overcome.

"Do you...do you feel...." Pearl bit her lip, halting the words in place. She was scared. She was terrified that Blue Diamond would finally admit it was all a mistake, that she wished Pearl had reabsorbed the eggs back when they had that chance. She was scared that Blue Diamond regretting giving her a voice in the matter at all. She hung her head and dug her fists into the mattress. She couldn't do it. She didn't want to know. Blue Diamond laid a large hand across hers as Pearl looked up. Her Diamond understood her in a way no one else did.

"I did not believe I would be as...invested as I am, but I stand by my decision. I have no qualms about our choice," Blue Diamond told her softly.

Pearl sighed breathlessly, a massive weight suddenly lifted off her light frame. When she looked up, Blue Diamond was smiling kindly at her. Pearl still had so many questions and Blue Diamond seemed like she was receptive to answering. The only problem was that she might start asking questions of her own. Where Pearl had learned these new things, for example. Blue Pearl was well aware of the fact that it wouldn't take much more digging on her part before Blue Diamond traced her curiosity back to Chester. Royal Guard or not, if Blue Diamond learned about the gestures Chester made towards her, she'd be killed. There was no doubt in Pearl's mind that all she had to do was say the word and she'd never have to endure Chester's patronizing attitude again. Pearl was still angry at her, but she didn't want Chester to die for it. There was no way around it. If Pearl kept asking, it wouldn't take much for Blue Diamond to trace her curiosity back to Chester and the Amethyst. Once again, Pearl held her tongue and remained ignorant. Chester owed her for this.

"Would you have chosen differently?" Blue Diamond asked her. Pearl reflected on this. Did _she_ regret it? It was like Blue Diamond had said, she'd never thought she'd be so invested in Gems she'd never met. It hurt to think about them, true, but Pearl could go a long time now without her children coming to her mind.

In the past, her relationship had always been clear-cut and professional. Blue Pearl was only a Pearl, and Blue Diamond was her Mistress. In the centuries since, their roles had become  relaxed. Pearl took more liberties for granted now than she would even dream of having before. An essential facet of their relationship had changed during their time at the Sky Spire. A barrier between them had fallen during their time up there, and Pearl wasn't convinced that would have happened if she hadn't incubated. No matter how she felt about the eggs, Pearl wouldn't trade her newfound intimacy with Blue Diamond for anything in the empire.

"No." Pearl decided. "But I don't want to do it again," she quickly added. Three were enough to worry about. Any more would be too much. Blue Diamond nodded.

"I'm glad we agree."


	7. Chapter 7

"Well, it's been _terrible_ , my Diamond, just _terrible_!" Aquamarine continued on her rant,  oblivious to Blue Diamond's tired apathy for her plight. "I've been doing my best, but one just can't oversee projects from lightyears away! And getting authorization to warp down is just so difficult these days I can barely manage! It's been over four months since you held court like this, and I feel..."

Blue Pearl tuned out Aquamarine's senseless drivel. Her attention kept being drawn to Aquamarine's Pearl. Blue had never felt more sorry for another Gem than she did for Aqua at this moment. Aqua was stationed by mistress's side, still as stick-limbed and googly-eyed as Blue remembered. Now however her mistress had put her in something Blue could only call a dress in the vaguest sense. Aqua was swallowed in layer upon layer of poofy frills. The bottom portion was so expansive another two or three Pearls could have hid underneath with ease. Aqua had never looked more miserable, and Blue couldn't blame her. While her own mistress was still distracted by Aquamarine's continued barrage, Blue Pearl slid further back to the rear side of the palanquin.

Her attention still drawn to Aquamarine, Blue didn't notice Chester until she bumped into her. Pearl jolted, but said nothing as she eyed Chester warily. It had been about two weeks since they'd spoken. Pearl had hoped she'd be able to go another couple hundred years without doing it again, but at the moment it didn't seen likely. For once being in the vicinity of Aquamarine didn't sound like the worst choice Pearl could make. She weighed her options quickly. Her Diamond was only feet away, separated by sheer curtains and open carved panels. Even Chester wasn't stupid enough to make innuendo or try touching Pearl again when Blue Diamond was so close. For the time being, Chester's company won out over Aquamarine, but that didn't mean Pearl had to like it. She made a point of turning away from her to face the crowd.

"Are you still mad at me, little friend?" Chester whispered.

"I'm not your friend," Pearl grumbled, still facing away from her.

"Well, you didn't tell Blue Diamond about what I said to you, or else I'd have been shattered. That has to count for something."

"Don't push it."

"Alright, Alright. Don't get your skirt in a twist."

An angry shout came from the front of the palanquin, stopping Pearl before she had a chance to react. She and Chester darted forward in time to see Aqua Pearl struggling to rise to her feet as Aquamarine began to shout at her.

"Get up you stupid fool! You're causing a scene!" Aquamarine screeched as a few Gems stopped to watch. "How can I take you in public when you're an embarrassment? After I had that lovely dress designed for you? You apologize to your Diamond right now!"

"I'm sorry!" The little Pearl quickly whimpered as she struggled with the voluminous mass of frills, still groping at the edges of her dress to find a way to lift herself up without tripping all over again. "Please forgive me, my Diamond, I didn't mean to offend."

"You think that's enough to pacify the wrath of Blue-"

"Enough," Blue Diamond barked.  "Aquamarine, pick her up and go back to your station."

Aquamarine yanked on her Pearl's arm without stopping her barrage of verbal abuse. Chester brushed past Blue and approached the pair, unbidden by Blue Diamond. In one deft motion she scooped Aqua Pearl up by her oversized collar and brought her to eye level. Aqua had gone rigid as she dangled in Chester's grasp, her eyes bugged even wider as she stared at Chester in mute horror. Aquamarine took a step back and Pearl was nearly tempted to protest. The Pearl had only tripped, she'd done nothing to warrant punishment. Just as quickly as she was picked up, Chester set her down lightly on her feet. She turned to Aquamarine, gave one of the best glowers Blue Pearl had seen and snarled,

"Station. Now."

Aquamarine nodded, her arms trembling slightly. As Aquamarine left, her Pearl turned back to Chester once, her large eyes searching her curiously.

"I did not ask you to do that," Blue Diamond stated.

"You didn't need to," Chester told her.

A hint of a smile flashed across Blue Diamond's face before the next Gem approached her. Chester retreated to stand back by Blue Pearl.

"Keep this between you and me," Chester whispered as she leaned down closer to Blue, "but if someone made me dress like that all day, I'd be in a rush to flee too."

Pearl didn't answer. Her body had gone cold with a sudden rush of anxiety. Talk like that was treasonous. Even Chester had to know that. Why tell her this? Was it some kind of test? Did she think Pearl was going to agree? She could see it now. Chester taking Blue Diamond aside and telling her that Pearl had gone rogue. Pearl wondered if this had been Chester's plan all along. Maybe One Eye put her up to it. Blue wouldn't out it past her.

"What do you _want_ from me?" Pearl hissed as she turned on Chester. Chester must have been a better actor than Pearl thought, because she looked genuinely confused. Chester glanced up to make sure Blue Diamond was still occupied before returning her attention to Pearl.

"You always looked so lonely, standing off by yourself. I just thought you might like some company, is all."

Pearl wasn't satisfied. Did Chester seriously believe she could just waltz up and be welcomed with open arms after everything she'd done? Everything she'd said?

"If you meant that, then don't act like _her_ ," Pearl retorted, pointing off in the distance.

"What? Like Aquamarine? I don't! When have I ever treated you like that?"

"You...you act like I'm...a toy. I'm not little. Or stupid.  Don't treat me like it."

The familiar, electric feeling of frustration laced with anxiety rushed through Pearl's body as she spoke. She clutched her trembling fists as she stood her ground, terrified of the possible repercussions but too angry to let Chester's disrespect slide. If Chester tried to talk down to her one more time, then by the stars she would-

"...Okay." Chester mumbled, scratching the back of her head.

"Okay?"

Chester nodded.

"I was only trying to joke around a little. Make you smile. Didn't think it would bother you that much. You're actually pretty brave you know," Chester offered.

Pearl shot her the best warning glare she could muster. Chester smiled sheepishly.

"I mean it. You've seen the way other Gems look at me. Most of 'em wouldn't tell me off if I slapped them upside the head. You didn't think anything of it. You've got moxie."

Pearl didn't feel brave, but the compliment felt nice, so Pearl let it slide. She didn't know what to say. This didn't feel like an elaborate ruse, but at the same time Pearl couldn't believe Chester's insistence on pestering her could easily be chalked up to trying to make friends.  She'd only stood up for herself a few times in her life, and each of those instances had been against Yellow or White. She was still a Pearl, and as angry as she was, the smarter, more timid part of Blue reminded herself that Chester outclassed her by many levels. If Chester wanted to make trouble for her, she didn't need to fabricate a story about rebelling to do it. Instead, she'd apologized both times Pearl had retaliated against her. Maybe there was something to her story. Blue Pearl didn't know what to believe. By the time Blue Diamond wrapped up her session at court and was making her way back to her private chambers, Blue Pearl was stationed at her side again. From across the palanquin Blue Pearl caught a glance of Chester, who offered the smallest of waves to her. Blue Pearl kept her hands clasped, but nodded slightly in her direction. Chester smiled and Pearl felt nervous for reasons she couldn't explain.

*****

Blue Pearl didn't know much longer she could keep nodding.

"What she and that Rose Quartz are doing, it's unnatural, I tell you!" Yellow exclaimed, "It's just plain wrong!"

The topic of Rose and Pearl had come up somehow, and Yellow had spent the last half an hour denouncing their 'abnormal' behavior. She'd been doing this more often lately, and both Blue and White were at their limit. The second Yellow paused to collect her thoughts for the next barrage, White interrupted her.

"Yellow, darling, you know we completely agree with you. There's no need to convince us. Why don't we talk about something else for a little while?"

"I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything!" Yellow snapped a little too loudly. "I'm not some...some...deviant! I'm not like...like _her_!"

"Nobody ever said you were," White answered softly. "Oh, Yellow, is it the Jaspers again? If those guards say one more word against you-"

"No, it's not them," Yellow grumbled with a flick of her wrist. "Well, it's not just them. I hear them all say it. I know I'm not like a normal Pearl. I can't perform and they think I've got too much power. But that's exactly how my Diamond made me! She wanted me to be all these things, so being the way I am has to be okay, doesn't it?"

"Oh, well _of course_ , Yellow!" White insisted, "You're doing your duty, just like a Pearl should. Isn't that right, Blue?"

Blue nodded and hoped this would be the end of it. Yellow still looked distracted and began to pace as she lost herself in her thoughts.

"It's just...I understand, I really do. It's natural for a Pearl to adore her mistress, and it's natural for any Gem to love their Diamond. To combine the two elevates the feeling, I'm sure. But! But!"

Yellow Pearl began to wag her finger, still pacing in a tight circle.

"There's a...a limit to that feeling! Doing what...she does isn't right. Rose may not be a Diamond, but she's still far, far above her. Intermixing like that is wrong! It's a disgrace to her mistress and she should know that. Even if Rose maybe agreed to the whole thing, that doesn't make it okay. Her Pearl must have seduced her, that's the only way a Gem like her would have consented. And that! Why, that goes against  everything inherent to our being! Right, White?"

"Of course! Our existence is based on a higher idea, the understanding..."

As White droned on, the wheels began to turn in Blue Pearl's mind. Yellow's back-and-forth arguments mirrored the same ones she'd made to herself, back when her affair was still in its early stages. It had felt good, felt right, but there had been a nagging voice in her mind insisting it was wrong. That somehow she was tricking her Diamond. After all, how could a Diamond ever consent to an affair with a Pearl of her own volition? But she had. No matter the concerns that tickled at her, Blue Pearl always reminded herself that a Diamond was a Diamond.  Perfect, infallible, incorruptible. Whatever she chose was under her free will. Blue wondered if Yellow really was in the same predicament as her. Neither Yellow Pearl nor her Diamond seemed likely candidates to engage in a tryst of any kind. But then, who would have thought she and Blue Diamond were such Gems?

"-Which is how it should be. Don't you agree, Blue?" White asked. Blue nodded. Perhaps, in some small way, she could set Yellow's concern at ease.

"It's as our Diamonds say," Blue offered. "They know what's right and wrong. If something is wrong, they would tell us so."

Yellow nodded vigorously.

"Of course, of course! The Diamonds were the ones to condemn Rose and her actions in the first place. They know what they're doing. Ha! Yes, you're right, Blue, you're completely right. Everything is in the hands of the Diamonds, it's none of my concern after all!" Yellow laughed nervously again and White hummed in relief.

"Superb job, Blue," White whispered to her. "You got her to finally drop that dreadful topic."

Blue Pearl didn't think White would be praising her if she knew what Blue may have just initiated. It wasn't that much later that Yellow Pearl stopped complaining about Pink Pearl entirely. Blue wondered if a Pearl having an affair with a Diamond was still considered deviant behavior if three out of the four of them were doing it.

*****

Blue Pearl dashed out of the way as the column rushed towards her. It smashed against the wall, shattering into dozens of pieces. White Pearl remained nearby, completely unfazed by the large projectile that had missed obliterating them both by mere feet. Blue didn't want to know how often she'd seen her Diamond in a temper like this. Blue Diamond, at least, wasn't having any of it.

"White!" She admonished as White Diamond continued to pace, ranting furiously as her hands itched for more artifacts to throw.

"This is unacceptable! I'll go down there and kill them all myself if I must. Those despicable savages think they can get the best of me? Flaunt my authority?"

Rose and her inner echelon had struck again. They'd managed to ambush and kill a great number of high-ranking Gems when they'd gathered for a meeting. Most of them had belonged to White Diamond, but her own Diamond had lost a number as well. Yellow must have known how poorly White was taking the news, hence their decision to try and calm her in person. Blue Pearl didn't think it was doing much good.

White Diamond snatched a statue twice the size of a normal Gem and hurled it in Yellow's general direction. Blue Pearl couldn't help but jolt when it slammed into the floor, breaking the polished black marble into chunks. She didn't dare try to move or speak, terrified that any motion might direct White Diamond's attention towards her. Blue had no idea how White Pearl could manage this kind of havoc. Yellow Diamond reached forward and grasped one of White's clenched fists between her hands, bridging the distance between them.

"White," Yellow Diamond began softly,  "You know as well as I that this is just another attempt to bait one of us into going down there. We will not play into their hands. We fight this war as we have always done, on our terms."

 Blue Diamond remained by herself as Yellow worked to soothe their sister's temper. Yellow had always been closer to White than Blue had. Even Pink had a good effect on her. Pink Diamond was one of the very few Gems who'd earned White's well-guarded trust. Blue Diamond wondered if Pink was also the last. Her relationship with White remained what it had been, a cold tolerance. There was no kind way to admit that if they hadn't been bound together by fate and what passed for familial ties in their kind, Blue would never have chosen to associate with a Gem like White Diamond.  Blue was sure White already knew this, but it never became any easier. White Diamond was mercurial on her best days, but the new war had brought up ghosts best left buried.

It had always been hardest for White to move on. Even now she was still trying to prove her legitimacy to a society that had been exterminated for millennia. Blue always felt this was part of the reason White never warmed up to her. She reminded White too much of them.

"The whole point of these cowardly attacks is to induce us into acting rashly," Yellow Diamond continued, slowly assuaging White's wrath. "We are smarter than them. We are _superior_ to them. We shall prevail and no one will ever doubt our authority again."

"So you admit they're flaunting it now!" White Diamond roared as she snatched her hand from Yellow.

"That is _not_ what I meant. I only-"

"Out! Both of you out! I won't have you treating me like a fool in my own domain. Out!"

Blue Diamond allowed White to shepherd her and Yellow out with barely a fuss. Her Pearl dashed across the room and hid in the space between her robes and her body. After the door slammed in her face, Blue Diamond saw no reason to linger. It was pointless to plead their case any further. It would only whip White into a deeper frenzy. She turned to leave when Yellow Diamond grabbed her shoulder.

"We need to talk. Alone."

After the Pearls and guards had been sequestered to the palanquin, Blue and Yellow Diamond stood alone in a hallway.

"I am...concerned about our sister, " Yellow started. "She hasn't been the same since the assassination attempt. You recall how she purged almost all of her inner circle, don't you?"

Blue Diamond did know. While she'd been busy hiring guards, White had gone on her own crusade. Convinced that there was a wider conspiracy afoot, or perhaps just too angry to care otherwise, White had interrogated and killed hundreds of her own aristocrats. Common Gems hadn't escaped her wrath either. The smallest offense was met with terrible punishments, and that didn't even touch on what she encouraged her Generals to do on Earth. Unable to face Rose and her opposition head on, she'd brought the fight to her realm, and her subjects were the ones paying for it.

Blue Diamond nodded slowly and waited for her sister to continue.

"Her behavior is getting out of control. She's convinced every shadow is hiding a traitor and every failure is intentional. She's always ruled with a heavy hand, but..."

"She's decided to rule with her flail instead," Blue offered. Yellow didn't seem keen about the metaphor, but nodded anyway.

"I fear that she's giving fuel to the rebels' fire."

No matter how tightly they controlled the conduits to and from Earth, a few Gems managed to sneak down and join the rebels every month. Her own Generals had confirmed the same thing as Yellow's. The majority of deserters belonged to White Diamond.

They were sisters, yes, but they all had to make a conscious effort to avoid interfering in each other's affairs while still keeping Gem society intact as a whole. There was a very thin line between addressing affairs of the empire and stepping on a sister's toes. There was a give and take, as there should be. No Diamond had complete control and had to yield to the wishes of her sisters if the others opposed her. That was the idea, but Blue felt more and more that their dynamic revolved around appeasing White.

Yet no matter how concerned she was about White's welfare, Blue Diamond knew White would fight them to the bitter end if she thought her authority was threatened. Pink Diamond's loss had brought their society to its knees. The loss of another Diamond would be the end of their people, and all three of them knew it. White would have to be appeased, one way or the other. 

"What do you suggest, Yellow?"

"We need answers. For better or worse, we need to know what's coming. You need to consult your oracle."

Blue Diamond sucked in a sharp breath.

"I fully understand your reluctance to put your faith in seers again, but we are running out of options. For the sake of White Diamond and our people, you need to speak with her."

Blue Diamond shook her head. She'd tried to explain this many times. The Oracle was not one who could be called upon like a common solider. There would come a time when Blue Diamond's presence would be foreseen, and at that time Blue Diamond would be informed as such. There was a delicate interplay of cause and effect which not even she could touch or comprehend. When the time was right, the Oracle would call her, not the other way around. Yet if she tried to state this, it would seem as if she was the uncooperative one, not White. Blue Diamond tried a different angle.

"You're forgetting what would happen if the odds didn't consistently fall in her favor. What White needs now is something to pull her out of her own head for a bit. She's fallen too far into herself. The decamillenial ceremony of the celestial light is coming up in about two hundred years. We ought to convince her to start work on it now."

Yellow Diamond put a hand to her chin as she thought Blue's proposal over.

"Yes, that could work. Something positive to shift her attention. However, you'll have to be the one to broach the subject with her. She knows I have little interest in such things. If I try to bring it up, she'll know it's a ploy. You still hold our old rituals close. Your insistence on her early planning won't seem suspicious."

Blue Diamond nodded. This, she could do. With any luck, White would bury herself in her work again instead of her paranoid fantasies. If not, Blue Diamond wasn't sure if there was anything more she or Yellow Diamond could do to help her.

*****

They'd returned home but Blue Pearl's limbs were still shaking. Every encounter with White Diamond left a mark that took time to heal. All Pearl wanted was to move on, but that was a luxury in which neither she nor Blue Diamond could currently indulge. Blue Diamond had occupied herself with rehearsing ways to address the topic of the ceremony to White Diamond. Pearl was all too aware that if White had the slightest inkling of her sisters' plans, she'd take it as a grave insult to her competency. If her mistress didn't want another civil war on her hands, she had to plan her words carefully.

Pearl looked to the doorway. Blue Diamond was absorbed in her work. She wouldn't notice if Pearl stepped out for a moment. Pearl could use a smile about now. She turned back to Blue Diamond and felt a ripple of guilt. It didn't feel quite right to be doing this right under her Diamond's nose. It seemed...illicit. But Chester was only being friendly. Blue Diamond surely wouldn't mind if they spoke when neither had anything else to do. And yet... It would only be a short chat. Not important enough to interrupt her mistress when she was working. She would only be gone a few minutes, just enough to set her mind at ease.

Blue Pearl padded up to the massive carved doors separating herself from the outside. They were far too big for a Gem such as herself to open, but posed no problem to a Quartz of any stature. Pearl paused for a moment, thinking over the best way to get Chester to open up. She knocked lightly on the door, hoping it would be enough for Chester to deduce she was on the other side. The doors remained still. Blue Pearl felt a little disappointed. Maybe it was for the best after all. Maybe- The doors were carefully, silently pushed open a crack, just enough for Blue Pearl to slip through. She took the opportunity and darted forward, straight into the antechamber and into One Eye.

"Looking for someone else? " One Eye murmured as she quickly shut the door behind her, trapping Pearl outside. Pearl jumped backwards, further outside, further away from her Diamond. Her eyes darted around the empty antechamber and seemed to Pearl that the room was expanding at a rapid pace. The walls rocketed upwards and the ceiling stretched up higher and higher. She'd barely moved, but the door was dashing away from her with breakneck speed. How had this monstrously cavernous space ever felt inviting?

One Eye slowly made her way towards Pearl, her gem shining in the dim light with a dangerous glint. Pearl could scream. Blue Diamond would hear her and come rescue her. She'd banish One Eye, or maybe kill her. All Pearl had to do was scream. She needed to scream.  Her throat had sealed up. One Eye kept sauntering slowly in Pearl's direction as she backed away. She was halfway across the antechamber, but the door was miles away. She couldn't keep backing away forever. Pearl slowed, waited for One Eye to get a little closer, then made a wide dash around her, racing back towards safety. She was slammed into the wall before she knew what had happened, One Eye's massive palm pressing against her neck.

"This is all your fault," she hissed. "You Pearls are all alike. You're all nothing but murdering, back-stabbing hussies!"

Pearl gasped and clawed uselessly at the massive fingers which held her in a vice grip. All the sound had petrified inside her body. She gasped silently again, trying desperately to act. One Eye jerked her palm up and Blue Pearl felt her teeth slam against each other as her jaw was held shut.

"Was that your plan? You were going to lure _her_ away? Get her killed too?" One Eye leaned in close as she spat her words with unbridled venom. Every drop poisoned Blue Pearl a little more, drove her fear deeper and deeper into the abyss. White Diamond had been nothing to this. She had never been more terrified. She tried to shake her head in denial, say something to defend herself, to call for help, but One Eye held her firmly in place by the neck. She leaned in even closer until she was almost pressed up against Pearl's face, until Blue Pearl could see the all the little striations and valleys in her single, deep red iris.

"I won't let one more Pearl take another good Gem away. I will do whatever I have to to protect my kind."

Blue Pearl jabbed at the black bull's eye of her attacker's pupil. She was suddenly released with a pained yelp and Pearl darted as fast as she could back towards the doors. A weight crushed her heel and Blue Pearl dashed face first to the floor. An explosion of tiny lights flickered behind her eyes as her chin smacked against the marble. She twisted as best she could to face her attacker, still grasping her firmly by the foot. One Eye looked bestial in her rage as she clutched at her face with her free hand.

" _What in the name of the moons do you think you're doing_?"

Chester stood at the entrance of the antechamber, bladed helm already summoned. One Eye sprang up and away from Pearl, but Chester was on her in a flash. She pushed One Eye back down to the ground and the two Jaspers began to grapple with each other.

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Chester hissed fiercely. "Attacking Blue Diamond's Pearl? You want to die too, is that it?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" One Eye snarled back. "Consorting with one of _them_! Do you always think with your-"

Their attention was drawn back to Blue Pearl, who managed to hobble in front of the chamber doors while they'd been distracted. They began to scramble to their feet, but Pearl had finally regained her own footing.

"Stop!" She cried out, halting them both. "If...Y-you move, I scream." They knew immediately the kind of damage Pearl could wreck if she made good on her threat. The weight of Blue Diamond's potential wrath hit both of them. For the moment, Blue Pearl had two of the most powerful Jaspers in the empire at her command.

"You, g-go stand over there." Pearl snapped at One Eye, pointing off to the entrance of the antechamber on the opposite side. One Eye paced slowly backwards, glaring at Pearl every step of the way. Chester remained in place near the center of the room.

"What happened?" Chester inquired weakly.

"I think...she was going to kill me," Pearl whispered.

"But how did she even get you? Why did-Oh. Did you...were you looking for me?"

"She tricked me," Blue Pearl hissed, angry at herself, angry at One Eye. She felt sick. Oh stars she'd never been more stressed and Pearl wished it would just poof her already. She tried to clasp her hands but her body was still shaking too much. She couldn't interlace her fingers. Her jaw and ankle throbbed with little electric pulses of pain from One Eye's crushing grip. Sick. Sick. Oh stars, she'd almost died. How had she been so stupid?

"Can I come closer?" Chester asked. Pearl managed to nod and Chester slowly walked over and sat down against the wall a few feet from Pearl. Pearl was torn between ordering Chester to let her back inside immediately and remaining outside a little longer. As much as she wanted to escape from the outside back to her safe inner sanctums, she didn't want her Diamond to see her right now. She'd ask questions Pearl didn't think she could answer. Blue Pearl was barely holding herself together and felt that at any moment she was going to start sobbing and wouldn't be able to stop. She tried to interlace her fingers again and finally succeeded. The gesture brought her some small measure of comfort.

"I won't ask you not to be mad." Chester began once Pearl had calmed down somewhat. "You have every right to be. She just lost someone. In the attack. They think... they think _she_ was the one who killed most of 'em."

Of course. _Her_. Pink Pearl. Chester interlocked her own fingers and rested her thumbs on her thick, white brows. Pearl almost felt like asking why _she_ looked so tired. Pearl was the one who'd almost been murdered.

"And I know it's not your fault. You aren't responsible for what she did. But grief makes you stupid. Clouds your judgment. I won't tell you she didn't mean it, only that she did it because she's in pain."

"In pain?" Pearl hissed. In Pain? One Eye was hurt, so she tried to kill Pearl? Blamed her for something she never did and never condoned? Chester half-heartedly shrugged, gaze still downcast and thumbs still digging into her eyebrows.

"We're Quartzes. When we get hurt, our first reaction is to lash out. It's just how we're made. We're not like you. We can't just... bottle everything up until it goes away. We belong in places where we can get loud, get angry. We're not meant to be silent. We don't belong here," Chester murmured.

Chester wasn't talking about One Eye anymore. At another time, Blue Pearl might have been more curious, but now all she wanted was to get away from these Jaspers. The pain in her ankle had slowed to a dull ache as she moved away from the door and stood in front of Chester, trying her best to look authoritative.

"Let me inside."

Chester didn't move from her spot on the floor.

"Please don't let her die," Chester whispered.

"She tried to-"

"I know! I know. I'm not asking you to forgive her, only to decide that she's more valuable to you indebted than dead. From this moment on, her life will be in your hands and she knows it. If you do spare her, I'll make sure she damn well understands it's on your terms. If not for her, then for me. Please, just...think about it. Please."

Their conversation was interrupted by a clap of thunder and a shuddering earthquake as Blue Diamond cracked the chamber doors open, slamming the massive panels into the wall. Blue Pearl was thrown off her feet by the impact as Blue Diamond rushed out in a frenzy.

" _PEARL!_ "

Her robes whipped and undulated against her form as Blue Diamond snapped her head left to right, everything coming to a sudden halt as soon as she locked eyes on Pearl. In that moment, as she sat on the cold marble tile staring up her Diamond's burning eyes from underneath her veil, Blue Pearl had never felt smaller.

"What are you doing out here?"

The air had gone stagnant. Blue Pearl rose to her feet and wondered if this was some of her Diamond's magic. If she'd somehow filled the room with cold, clear water without anyone noticing. Maybe that was why every movement she made felt so deliberate, why her body kept feeling like it was trying to float away from her. She didn't know where to begin. From the corner of her eye, Pearl noticed Chester rising her feet with the same intentional slowness. Blue Diamond noticed too, and turned her attention on her.

"How dare you take my Pearl outside,"  Blue Diamond boomed. "How dare you abuse my trust right under my own nose!"

"She didn't!" One Eye interrupted, "It was me, my Diamond, I was the one who did it."

"I knocked."

All eyes turned to Blue Pearl. She looked at One Eye, paused, and continued. "On the door. My Diamond. To go out."

They waited for more of an explanation, but Pearl didn't want to say anything else.

"Inside." Blue Diamond ordered. "Now."

Blue Pearl scurried as fast as her legs could take her. Blue Diamond turned to her two guards.

"If either of you even considers laying a finger on my Pearl, know that I will subject you to the kind of torment that will make you wish for death. Know that if you ever abuse my trust, I will not grant you such a kindness."

While her Jaspers nodded and cowered in fear, Blue Diamond closed the chamber doors behind her, Leaving her and Pearl alone. Blue Pearl wished she could say she felt safe and sound. This was all her fault. She never should have tried to leave. She never should have sought Chester's company on her own. Pearl knew from the start that she was doing something wrong, but she went ahead and did it anyway.

"Please forgive me, my Diamond."

Blue Diamond remained where she was, her back to Pearl, still facing the doors.

"Did either of them harm you in any way?" Blue Diamond asked quietly. Pearl resisted the urge to run her hand across her neck.

"I'm fine, my Diamond." This felt like another lie. Blue Diamond turned to face her. From the way she'd turned her head, Pearl couldn't see her Diamond's eyes. She felt tiny.

"Why did you leave this room?"

Because she really was stupid. Because she'd forgotten her place and abused her Diamond's trust and maybe she was a bad Pearl. Her jaw still twinged from where she'd hit the floor, but Blue Pearl ground her teeth tighter in her mouth. She deserved the pain. There was a squirming feeling in her belly when Blue Pearl thought of explaining what she'd done. Why she'd done it. She tried to sneak off to see someone and had lied about the consequences she'd incurred. Pearl didn't want to tell the truth to protect One Eye. She wanted to keep silent because she was ashamed. She was more ashamed of being caught than the act of leaving itself, and that made Pearl even more ashamed.

"Is this about what happened with White Diamond?" Her mistress asked when Pearl failed to answer.

"I almost died." Another half-truth. This was wrong.  "I...I didn't want you to see me like this. It's not...proper to be upset."

Blue Pearl finally caught a glimpse of the burning light of her Diamond's eyes and looked away. She wanted to disappear. Anything to get away from the sight of her Diamond's displeasure.

"I am extremely disappointed with your actions, Pearl. If you had really cared about behaving properly you would have sought my consent before acting on your own. If you had desired to be alone, there's plenty of space in here for you to do so."

Pearl drew a shaky breath and nodded. Her Diamond's words hit her harder than One Eye ever could. Her mistress was right. That was the worst part of it, knowing that on some level, she'd brought this on herself. Pearl blinked back tears from under her hair.

"You are never to leave this chamber without my knowledge. You may be my Pearl, but I cannot guarantee your safety out there. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Pearl whispered as she brought her hand up to her neck, "I do."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. The chapter everyone's been waiting for. Buckle up, folks, because Blue Pearl finally does the thing.

Time was an odd thing. As the only Diamond in control of Homeworld's seers, Blue Diamond was well aware of this fact. Knowledge and experience, however, were two different things. It had only been a few hours since Pearl had wandered out on her own. Only a few hours since Blue Diamond had been more terrified than she wanted to admit when she'd looked around her chambers and realized her Pearl was missing. Only a few hours, three, perhaps four at the most, since she'd had to discipline Pearl for the very first time. The palpable discomfort in the room slowed time to a crawl, dragging a few hours into years and years.

Pearl had gone off to hide somewhere. Blue Diamond hadn't disturbed her since. She put on a stoic face well while in public, but Pearl was a delicate Gem who became overwhelmed easily. Blue Diamond had hurt Pearl, and the feeling did not sit well with her. Blue Diamond had hurt many, many Gems in her long life. Out of necessity, mostly, but sometimes not. She took no enjoyment from it, but accepted it as part of her role as a Diamond. Shutting oneself off from the Gems she ruled was the only way a Diamond could keep sane. No one could afford to have too heavy of a conscience and do what they had to do to keep society running.

Blue Diamond flicked through reports without reading any of them. She didn't want to touch any of her important work because she knew she wasn't in a state of mind where she could concentrate. She longed for some distraction, something to ease the burden from her mind, but that had always been Pearl's role. It would not be appropriate, Blue Diamond decided, to have Pearl perform in order to ease her own discomfort from Pearl's discipline.

It was almost a relief to hear a quiet knocking on her door. Blue Diamond felt that she was ready to welcome with open arms anyone who could exorcise the malingering tension. Blue Diamond opened the chamber doors and looked down to see her gem-chested guard standing before her. Whatever feeling of charity Blue Diamond had felt quickly pooled out of her.

"May I have an audience, my Diamond?" Chester asked meekly.

"You are either very brave or very stupid to risk my anger twice in one day," Blue Diamond told her, but stood aside and allowed her guard to enter. Before she closed the doors, Blue Diamond caught sight of One Eye watching the proceedings with a look of deep concern. A hollow thud echoed through the room as Blue Diamond sealed herself and Chester inside. A quick scan of the room told her Pearl was still hidden somewhere. Good. Blue Diamond didn't feel comfortable letting her Pearl anywhere near a Jasper any time soon.

Blue Diamond returned her attention to Chester. The dark-hued Jasper looked worn beyond her young age. A ripple of pity stirred gently underneath her anger. Her sisters had told her it was risky to trust any impure Jasper as a guard, and downright madness to trust a Jasper veined with Amethyst impurities. The hardest task for a Diamond's guard wasn't the risk of fighting opponents, or keeping an eye out for trouble. It was standing at attention, completely still and silent, all day every day. Jaspers were better suited to it than other quartzes, but most of them would go mad within a week if they tried. A pure Amethyst wouldn't last a day. But for whatever reason, Chester had the kind of languid temperament that made her an excellent pick for the task. Chester kept her eyes respectfully lowered and began.

"I wanted to apologize, my Diamond. For earlier. You've always been good to me, and I want you to know that I would never do anything to hurt you. Or her. I made a promise to serve you with every particle of light in my body, and I intend to keep it."

Chester's words chipped away at Blue Diamond's lingering anger. Her Pearl had been unharmed, kept close to the entrance, and One Eye had been sent away to the opposite side of the room. Blue Diamond would never trust One Eye alone with her Pearl, but Chester had never shown the kind of unswerving malice towards Pearls that so many Gems held. She'd made a good pick with this Jasper. Chester raised her eyes and began again.

"That's the other reason I've asked for an audience. My Diamond, with your permission, I'd like your leave to transfer down to Earth."

And just like that, the room had gone cold again.

"Why would I grant you such a request?" Blue Diamond asked tersely.

"Because we need leadership down there. My Diamond, I've heard the reports too. The rebels, they've been using that fusion seer to target the top brass for centuries. We've been losing good, experienced Gems, and after this last-" Chester stopped, blinked heavily, then continued, "We outnumber the rebels, but their leadership is better. If we don't have well-trained Gems to command our armies, then our superior forces mean nothing."

"And you would try to convince me that this decision has nothing to do with the recent death of your mother?"

Chester sank under the weight of Blue Diamond's words, her massive shoulders tugged towards the ground and back bent forward from the blow. Blue Diamond had lost three generals in the rebel's most recent slaughter, and the large Amethyst had been among the unfortunate. It really was a loss. That Amethyst was among the few thousand Gems still alive who'd been made before their empire was established. There were only a handful of Gems left who called Sector Mu their origin. In that, the Amethyst had been like kin to Blue Diamond. Amethyst had been made after her, but was pulled from the same watery monolith she called her birthright. If it was possible for a Gem to live forever, Blue Diamond would have suspected her to do it. Instead, she'd been murdered along with the rest of them, a small pile of shards all that was left from a Gem who'd been loyal to her since her own rebellion.

"You are one of the most highly trained Jaspers in the empire. I will not have you throw your talent away on petty revenge."

"This isn't about revenge. My training could be an asset. My Diamond, there is nothing more important than your safety, but-"

"But?"

"But I feel that I would be more useful on the ground. It's truly been an honor to serve so close to you, but I want your permission to serve where I'm needed most. My Diamond, your Gems are loyal to you and the rest of the guards are more than enough to keep you safe. I can make a difference down there. Please give me the chance to prove it."

Blue Diamond considered Chester's proposal. Everything she'd said had been true. The rebels strength had always been in their superior leadership and tactics. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in strategic strikes, hitting where it hurt the most. This last attack had been just one in a long string. They'd been losing good leaders for a long time, and it was beginning to feel like all that was left were Gems scraped from the bottom of a backworld kindergarten. Chester was a talented Gem. It was why Blue Diamond had picked her. There was no denying that she'd do well if she was allowed to serve, but the fact remained that there were other factors in play regarding Chester's decision. Blue Diamond deliberated a while longer before speaking.

"If I allow you to serve on Earth, it will be under the following conditions. First, you may not expect to serve in your mother's regiment, and you may expect no special treatment as my guard. You will start as a common foot-solider like everyone else and work your way up. Second, I will not allow you to return until the war is over. If this is truly what you desire, you will see it through to the end. Third, under no circumstances are you to disobey your superiors or attempt to seek vengeance on your own accord. If you cannot abide by these terms, you are not fit to serve my armies."

Chester bowed deeply, allowing the shaggy tips of her long hair to brush the floor. It would be hard to let Chester go. Blue Diamond could only hope she hadn't allowed the young Gem to chase after her own destruction.

"Do not make me regret this decision," Blue Diamond reminded her.

"I won't. Thank you, my Diamond."

"Be safe. And return to me once the war is over."

Chester smiled warmly up at her.

"I will, my Diamond. I promise."

*****

"She's trying to get your attention again," Yellow drawled.

"I don't care," Blue snapped back with more malice than she intended. Chester had been trying to get her attention for weeks. Blue Pearl wasn't having any of it. Getting attacked by One Eye and being chastised by Blue Diamond had been one of the worst experiences of her life. Her Diamond had been right. Pearl never should have snuck around with Chester behind her Diamond's back. Blue didn't hold any hard feelings against Chester, but she'd made up her mind. No more snooping around. Yellow shot a glare that could melt steel in Chester's direction and tugged Blue's arm so she was facing White instead of the guards. Even as Yellow and White went on, Blue could still feel Chester staring at her. She resisted the urge to look back.

*****

Pearl already wished she hadn't come along on this trip. It was only a short one. Her Diamond was just meeting a few generals in another sector. She'd taken Pearl, Chester, One-Eye, and one of the new guards, an Ocean Jasper whose Gem was hidden in the small of her neck  along with her. At some point Pearl was going to be left alone in the palanquin, and she was dreading it. Her Diamond had even asked her if she wanted to come along, but Pearl hadn't wasted a moment nodding fervently in assent.

Guilt was a new emotion to Blue Pearl, and it clung to her like a cruel lover's embrace. Pearl was sure her Diamond had forgiven her, but Pearl wasn't quite ready to forgive herself. Whatever Blue Diamond asked of her, Pearl would do. Except now, as the palanquin picked its way through decorated halls, Pearl was stuck with the uncomfortable realization that she'd put herself right back where she was a few weeks ago, all alone with her Diamond's guards.

The palanquin docked outside the short, domed tower in which the gathering would take place and Pearl began to nervously play with her fingertips. One Eye wouldn't dare hurt her, not with Chester nearby and after her Diamond's threat. She would be fine. The generals came out to meet Blue Diamond and bowed in greeting. To Pearl's surprise, one of them offered a quick bow to Chester with a murmur of "my condolences." Chester nodded politely as the higher-ranked Gems left with Blue Diamond. Pearl remained where she was, standing inside the palanquin next to her Diamond's throne.

The Ocean Jasper moved in front of the grand arched door while Chester walked around to speak with One Eye. Pearl couldn't hear what they said, but a jolt of panic rippled through her body when the two of them approached her, their bulky forms trapping her inside the palanquin.

"So," Chester began nonchalantly, "A certain someone has something they need to tell you. Right?" Chester elbowed One Eye in the bicep playfully, but One Eye still looked like she'd just stepped in something foul.

"I'm sorry," One Eye growled in a tone that couldn't be further from the sentiment.

"And?" Chester prompted, completely unfazed by Pearl's fear or One Eye's burning wrath.

"Thank you."

"For?" Chester prompted again.

"Not having me killed," One eye grumbled as she turned her good eye away from Pearl. Chester slapped her companion on the back and grinned towards Blue Pearl.

"See? The big lug does know what's good for her." One Eye swatted Chester's hand away and stalked off, having fulfilled the bare minimum of whatever duty Chester had undoubtedly goaded out of her. Pearl didn't feel better at all. Chester remained at the entrance to the palanquin for a bit, wide smile slowly fading as she waited for a response.

"You know, I think you're going to get your wish," Chester finally said when Pearl failed to say anything. Pearl continued to say nothing. Chester was...kind. Chester took an interest in her for reasons Pearl couldn't fathom. But nothing good would come out of it. She couldn't keep sneaking around to speak with Chester privately. It was time to cut this off. She had to-  "You won't have to see me or hear me for a long, long time. Blue Diamond's letting me serve down on Earth. And this isn't about what happened with you." Chester added quickly, "I asked for this."

Pearl felt a bit like she was falling slowly, or floating in space. Chester's words resonated in her mind, but somewhere along the way the meaning had sloughed off, leaving a mish-mashed jumble of sounds to bounce around her head. Chester was staring at her in a way that Pearl couldn't quite place. Hopeful, maybe. Or scared. Expecting something or fearing something, Pearl didn't quite know, caught somewhere in between desiring and fearing a reaction.

"Why?" Pearl asked weakly. Chester smiled and shrugged.

"Like I said before, you do stupid things when you're hurt."

Pearl noticed for the first time that Chester wasn't smiling with her eyes.

"When do you leave?"

"Ten days. Why do you think I wanted to talk to you so badly?" Chester asked with a quiet chuckle. It didn't seem funny at all to Pearl. She didn't understand. At some point, Chester had entered the palanquin and sat cross-legged beside her. Even sitting down and hunched over, Chester was only a bit below eye level with Pearl's Gem. Pearl didn't know what was supposed to come next. A sense of unease lightly draped itself over her like a piece of tulle fabric. Pearl had just been gearing herself up to tell Chester they needed to cease contact, but now that Chester was leaving, Pearl didn't want to see her go. A decisive cough from Chester caught Pearl's attention. Clearly, Chester still had something on her mind.

"Hey, I understand if you're all tapped out, but there's one last thing I'd like you to do for me. It's only a little thing, and if you do, I'll owe you one."

"You already owe me."

"Ok, then I'll owe you four favors. One for that ah, you know, gesture I made when we first talked, once for that thing I said about the Blue Blowhard's poofy Pearl, one for Miss Stink Eye, and another for this thing."

Blue Pearl was increasingly convinced that favors from Chester were the most worthless commodity one could own. She couldn't imagine what she'd ask of Chester in return anyway. If it involved lying to her Diamond, Pearl wouldn't do it.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to say fuck in front of my new platoon."

Pearl stared.

"What?"

"Hear me out. Quartzes function by working as a team.  Without your squad, you're nothing. This new platoon, they don't know me. I'm just some pampered impurity who tossed away the job of a lifetime to fall right back to the bottom. I need to win them over, and I need to do it quick. And the best way to do that? Make 'em laugh. Make 'em like me. They'd talk about it for ages. The Jasper who got a Diamond's Pearl to say fuck. Something like that could keep me going for a long time. And I know what you're thinking," Chester quickly added before Pearl had a chance to speak.

"You're thinking that you can't let Blue Diamond know you said fuck in front of a bunch of Jaspers. I respect that. If you agree, I'll swear everyone to secrecy. It'll just stay between us. Whattya say, Pearl?"

More secrets. Exactly what Pearl wanted to avoid. Plus, the 'favor' was completely stupid. Pearl couldn't understand why in the world Chester would ask something like this from her. It was a Quartz thing, she supposed. Pearl interlaced her fingers and thought about the prospect. The war wasn't going to be over anytime soon. Everyone knew it by now, even if they didn't admit it in public. This would be the last time Pearl saw Chester for a very long time. In the grand scheme of things, it really was only a little thing Chester was asking. One little word. Pearl turned to Chester and nodded.

"I'll do it. But this is it. I won't keep any more secrets. If you...still want to be friends when you come back, we ask Blue Diamond."

"Do you really think she'd be okay with that?"

Pearl nodded. Her Diamond was firm, but fair. There would be limits on how they could meet, of course. Nothing to interfere with Chester's duty. But her Diamond didn't mind when she spoke to the other Pearls. Pearl had never asked anything of her Diamond. Pearls weren't supposed ask things of others; they were made to give, not receive. Still, something told Pearl that if she asked and was honest, her Diamond would grant her request.

"Alright. It had to happen at some point anyway. This really was a better job than someone like me had any right to expect. Blue Diamond took a big chance on me, and I can't do anything to abuse that trust. If you think she won't be upset, I'll trust you on that one too."

Pearl turned away so Chester wouldn't see the heat creeping across her face. She wasn't used to being trusted. Or complimented by Gems besides her Diamond. Pearls overheard things they were expected not to repeat, but this was different. Gems didn't actively place their trust in Pearls, not before the rebellion and subsequent Pearl Panic and certainly not now. As Pearl let her eyes roam across her surroundings, she caught sight of One Eye glowering at her from her spot a few yards away. A knot of anxiety began to twist itself up inside Blue Pearl. If Chester left, there'd be no one to shield her from One Eye. She'd be as helpless as a poofed Gem, just waiting for One Eye to finish her off.

"You can't go," Pearl hissed under her breath, still caught in One Eye's angry scrutiny. "She...she hates me. She'll try to..."

"No she won't," Chester insisted. "We've had a talk and she's come to an understanding. I can't make her like you, but she's no threat to you."

"And how do you know that?" Pearl retorted.

"First, because she owes you her life. Second, because if she's a risk to you in any way, it'll be the death of her. And I made her promise that she'd be waiting for me when I came back. I know she hates you, but she wouldn't do that to me. If there's one good thing you can say about her, it's that she really does put duty first."

"What did I ever _do_ to her?"

One Eye raised a brow.

"You really don't know why she doesn't like you?"

Pearl shook her head.

"Blue Diamond was different before she got you. That's what the One-Eyed Wonder told me, anyway. Apparently, she used to be pretty frigid."

Pearl felt every atom in her body tense in indignation. _No one_ called her Diamond such a thing.

"Hey, hey, don't get so mad, I'm just relaying a story, okay?"

Pearl crossed her arms, but allowed Chester to continue. Frigid. Pearl could've told Chester stories about her mistress that would make a Ruby melt, and those were the tame ones. _Frigid_!

"So, anyway, Blue Diamond. Used to be pretty cold. Kept to herself, never smiled, just kind of...ruled. Like Yellow Diamond, but no 'oomph' for it. Then you come along and she can't take her eyes off you. She starts softening up, everyone's happy, yadda yadda. Except Stink Eye, of course. It's like you said, Gems like you and I just stand around all day, but you! You get noticed, and she doesn't. Can you blame her for being jealous?"

"She's...jealous?"

Chester nodded.

"Don't tell her I said this, but honestly? I think if she could switch places with you, she would. Don't know if it's true or not, but I heard it's kinda why she became a guard in the first place. Quartzes are supposed to be social, and she never had it in her. I think she only had two friends. That's very sad for a Quartz, by the way. So, she put in for an assignment where that wouldn't be an issue and wound up here."

"Oh."

Pearl uncrossed her arms and looked over at One Eye again. She wasn't sure if this changed how she felt about the antagonistic Jasper, but at least it was a new revelation. She'd learned something new about her Diamond, too. Pearl had no clue she'd made that much of an impact. She did have to admit that her Diamond was more...aloof when Pearl had first been made. For the moment it was overshadowed by Chester's looming departure. Pearl still couldn't quite put a finger on how she felt about that. In the mean time, she'd have to prepare herself. She had a promise to keep.

*****

There wasn't much fanfare on Chester's last day. No celebrations or performances, just the rest of the royal guards telling Chester they'd miss her or reminding her to bring back good stories. Pearl watched from the sidelines as her Diamond spoke to the leader of Chester's new platoon, a dark teal Imperial Jasper with thin, green striping across her body. One Eye had been standing off to the side near Chester's gathering. It was only now that Pearl realized she'd never seen One Eye being included in a group, only standing slightly to the edges at best. Her existence was as peripheral as Pearl's, but Blue Pearl had failed to notice.

Once the other Jaspers were finished with their goodbyes, Chester went over to One Eye and opened her arms wide. For the first time, Pearl saw One Eye's dour expression soften and she embraced Chester tightly. From the way One Eye moved her head, Pearl was certain she was whispering something, but Pearl was much too far away to hear. They parted and made their way towards Blue Diamond. Pearl gulped. It would be any minute now. Chester had explained everything ahead of time. One Eye and a few other guards were going to keep Blue Diamond occupied for a few minutes, just enough for Pearl to sneak over, say her line, and sneak back without being noticed. The Imperial Jasper slapped Chester on the back and lead her away. One Eye remained behind with a few guards coming up to join her.

"My Diamond, I need to speak with you about something," One Eye stated.

That was Pearl's cue.

Another guards slowly inched her way to stand in front of Pearl until she was blocked from view. The Imperial was leading Chester towards her own group far back behind Blue Diamond's palanquin. Her mistress was still absorbed in what One Eye was saying. Pearl hesitated for a moment, then darted over.

As soon as Chester spotted her, all eyes snapped in Pearl's direction. There were Ocean Jaspers, Green Jaspers and a few Kabambas along with the one Imperial Jasper. Pearl felt what little courage she had evaporate. There was no way she could do this. She couldn't even manage a 'hello,' what had made her think she could curse in front of these strange Gems? Chester was going to look like a liar and a fool, and it was all Pearl's fault. She was going to let down the only Gem who'd ever wanted to be her friend.

 They were all staring at her expectantly and Pearl knew her Diamond couldn't be distracted forever. She had to say something. Just once, just once, she needed her voice to work when she wanted it to. Chester was still grinning widely at her, but some of the others started to look restless. Pearl gulped and silently pleaded with her voice to work.

"I knew this too good to be true," the Imperial Jasper finally growled. "C'mon. There's no way a Pearl like her is going to say-"

" _Fuck_."

The word slipped out of Pearl's mouth and landed neatly at the feet of the Jaspers. They gaped at her, jaws dangling, then exploded into peals of hearty laughter.

"She did it! She did it! I can't believe-"

"D'you hear that? She actually said it!"

"-est day of my life! A Diamond's Pearl sayin'-"

While the rest of the pack were busy hooting amongst themselves, Chester managed to slip closer to Blue Pearl. Pearl hoped the war would be over soon. For Chester's sake.

"Good luck," Pearl whispered.

"Thanks, little friend."

Pearl nodded.

*****

Life went on without Chester. It was a quieter, duller life, but it went on nonetheless. The Diamonds ruled, battles were fought, and society kept creeping forward decade by decade. Over four hundred years had passed since the war officially started, and it had finally begun to feel like the new normal. Her Diamond didn't hold court much anymore. There was too much to do, and it had mostly been for reassurance anyway. Since most Gems had become accustomed to the background noise of the civil war, there wasn't much point. This, however, was something different. A Carnelian made on Earth stood accused of rebellious behavior. They called it a public trial, but it was all spectacle, really.  It was the only chance most Gems got to see  and condemn a rebel up close. Earth had been in lock-down for centuries and most Gems weren't allowed to warp, fly, transmit, or view broadcasts. This was a cathartic event, an opportunity to feel on a small, personal level, that justice was being served.

A large crowd had gathered in a wide circle around Blue Diamond's palanquin. One Eye stood to her Diamond's right-hand side. The rest of the Jaspers were stationed around the palanquin and the edges of the crowd. A hush fell over the room as three Carnelians stepped forward. Two of them were carrying a forth in a large red bubble. The third carried series of thin bricks encased in her own, smaller bubble. With a nod from Blue Diamond, the larger bubble was popped and the Carnelian inside fell to the floor. She landed clumsily, but seemed unconcerned as she rose and patted her hips to brush non-existent dust from her body. She slowly turned from her companions-turned-accusers to the crowd, craned her head upward to gawk at the carved glass panels in the ceiling, still slowly turning in a circle, until she spotted Blue Diamond and stopped. She had never seen a Diamond in person before. That much was obvious by the awe and wonder on her slack-jawed face. Pearl had witnessed enough of these 'trials' by now that the Carnelian struck her as an oddity. She was curious, certainly, and perhaps a little concerned, but not afraid. Not terrified of what was to come, or angry and defiant. Pearl wondered if she was even aware of why she'd been brought here.

"State your official title." Blue Diamond told her. The Carnelian continued to stare, then gawked around curiously before pointing at herself. Blue Diamond nodded.

"I'mma Carnelian."

"She means your designation," the small bubble carrying-Carnelian, likely her commander, snapped as she smacked the former upside her round head. She was a more reddish hue than her sepia-toned subordinate. The accused casually scratched the back of her thick hair.

"I'm Carnelian Facet...Five, cut...cut five..."

"It's Facet 5, Cut 7MS," her commander interrupted.

"Yeah, that."

Gems in the crowd glanced at each other in confusion. Pearl could see some whispering furtively to their companions. This was not how a trial began. The crowd didn't know, but Pearl had overheard the truth. The only Gems picked for these kinds of public declamations were ones who'd bend easily. Gems who'd cower and whimper or look like fools trying to defend their ideology. Clearly this Carnelian fell into the latter group, but she didn't seem to have any clue that she should be on the defense at all. She kept staring at Blue Diamond with a gentle awe, oblivious to the thousand hateful faces surrounding her. Blue Diamond questioned the Carnelian further.

"You have been brought here because your commander and fellow soldiers claim you've been engaging in deviant and rebellious behavior. Do you deny this?"

"What? I'm not a rebel! That's who we're fightin! Right?" The Carnelian turned anxiously back and forth from her commander to the other two who'd brought her in for guidance. They greeted her with stony glares and silence. The Carnelian had finally realized that something was wrong. There was a hesitancy to her demeanor that hadn't been there before, but Pearl still didn't think the poor Gem knew what was going to happen to her. They called it a 'trial,' but without fail every Gem brought forward was sentenced to processing for treachery. The Carnelian would return to Earth, but it wouldn't be in one piece. It was only a matter of producing enough evidence to satisfy the crowd. Blue Diamond continued her questioning undeterred.

"Do you refute your commander's claim that you told other Gems to refer to you as a Bismuth?"

 The brown Carnelian looked abashed, like the younger guards after One Eye caught them joking around too much. She scratched the gemstone embedded in her left hand and mumbled,

"I was only joking around."

"You are to address me as 'My Diamond."

"M'sorry. My Diamond."

More whispers, more mutterings. Nothing about this seemed right. Even her Diamond knew it. She started from a different angle and addressed the commander.

"You have evidence of malicious wrong-doing, correct?"

"Yes, your radiance!" The maroon Carnelian brayed as she dashed forward, bubble extended in her hands. The bubble and its contents were presented to One Eye, who promptly popped it. The thin bricks inside fell into her hands and One Eye turned each one over in turn. Having inspected the evidence for any sign of danger, One Eye then brought her cargo to Blue Diamond.

"They're drawings. Of bases." The accused piped up. "I was just thinkin' how to make 'em better. Since we get blown up a lot."

The bricks had been etched with crude, two-dimensional drawings of barracks with lines pointing to changes. The penmanship of the notations was so atrocious to the point of being illegible. From her spot beside her mistress, Pearl could see make out things like 'emergency tunnel' and 'tree on top looks like real hill.' Blue Diamond's face darkened as she shuffled through the scrawlings. 

"That's a hallmark of a rebel right there! Actin' like something she's not! " The commanding Gem declared. "She isn't normal and I'm turnin' her in!"

With a nod from Blue Diamond, One Eye escorted the leader back to the edge of the crowd and brought the accused forward. Face to face with her Diamond, the burly little Gem offered her a military salute.

" _You don't salute like that to a Diamond_!" Her commander shrieked from across the room. The brown Carnelian looked well and truly lost. She finally seemed to notice the crowd staring at her and gawked all around, as if searching for a sign of something familiar in a foreign sea. Her movements had taken on a desperate edge as the weight of her ordeal finally began to sink in. Pearl watched as One Eye gently elbowed the Carnelian in the side, jolting her to attention. With the smaller Gem's focus on her, One Eye crossed her arms in a Diamond salute. Slowly the Carnelian followed suit, looking back and forth between Blue Diamond and One Eye for approval. Blue Diamond nodded again, and Carnelian dropped her arms to her sides.

"Do you take responsibility for these drawings?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Yes. My Diamond. I'm sorry. I was just tryin' to help."

"You have never been to Homeworld before, have you?"

"No. My Diamond."

"How old are you?"

"I'm..." The Carnelian halted, furrowing her brow in concentration again. She started touching her fingertips with her left hand, then her right, before addressing Blue Diamond again. "I'm Eight."

"Years?" Blue Diamond asked softly. The Carnelian shook her head.

"Months."

A ripple of uncertainty cut through the crowd.  Blue Pearl did her best not to gape. Eight months. It was no wonder the poor Gem didn't know anything. The Carnelian was so young she probably still had dirt in her hair. She couldn't possibly be condemned for processing, could she? Pearl looked to her Diamond for guidance, but she betrayed no emotion as she continued her questions.

"Do you understand why your actions were wrong?"

"No. M'Diamond."

"You are a Carnelian. You were designed and born for a specific purpose. To protect those Gems." At this, Blue Diamond pointed at the crowd encircling them.

"You are stationed on Earth to fight the rebels who want to see them destroyed, who want our whole society destroyed. It's your duty to prevent that from happening. You are not a Bismuth. You don't possess the ability to do what a Bismuth does, or to understand how to construct buildings. When you do things like this, it prevents you from doing your real duty to the fullest extent. You are putting yourself and all these Gems in danger. Do you want to keep us safe?"

The Carnelian nodded vigorously. Blue Diamond responded by crushing the bricks in her hand.

"Then don't do this anymore. Concentrate on your duty and stop pretending to be something you're not. I'm going to let you off with a warning, but if you do this again, I cannot afford to be lenient with you. Understood?"

"Yes, My Diamond. I'll protect everyone just like you said."

"I'm glad. I'm sure you'll make a fine solider soon."

The young Carnelian blushed a deep mahogany and mumbled a thank you as One Eye escorted her away. Her commander soured and loudly declared,

"Well, _someone_ oughtta be punished!"

"You're right." Blue Diamond declared. "You, Carnelian Facet 4 Cut 7HM, are no longer commander of this unit. Beginning today, you will be transferred to remedial duties."

"WHAT?"

"These Gems were your responsibility. It was your duty to see they were raised properly and understood their role in society. Clearly, you have failed. You cannot expect the Gems serving under you to fight the rebellion when they have no conception of what it means to rebel."

As the older of the group was lead off by a few guards, still angrily fuming under her breath, the younger Carnelian turned back to Blue Diamond. Standing up straight, she smiled widely and offered a Diamond salute before leaving with her other two companions. It was not the outcome Pearl had expected, but it felt right. There were more ways to deliver justice than shattering.

*****

In and out. In and out. Pearl breathed in and out like she was preparing to sing. She focused on her chest expanding, the sensation of air rushing through her mouth and down her throat, holding it there, and then pushing it out all over again. Something to keep her distracted. They were going to visit White Diamond. Her mistress had made her preparations to speak with her sister about the Celestial Light ceremony, and it was finally time to broach the subject.

If this conversation went well, White Diamond would turn her fervored attention to the ceremony, granting everyone some much needed relief. If it went poorly... The image of a massive column rushing towards her filled Pearl's mind. Her Diamond must have been imagining the worst too. She was drumming her fingers on the edge of her armrest in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness. Pearl cautiously reached over and placed her hand atop the much larger one. The drumming stopped and a pair of radiant blue eyes met hers. Pearl quelled the anxiety in her chest and smiled.

"It will be alright, my Diamond."

Her mistress smiled back at her.

"Thank you, Pearl."

*****

Her sister had taken the suggestion surprisingly well. It was hard to tell sometimes with White Diamond. Her anger was explosive, but her happiness was more ethereal. It was something gleaned from the spaces between her actions. She was dedicated to her projects and ceremonies and poured a monumental effort into them, but White was also intensely private about her work. Whatever she revealed to Blue and Yellow were always highly-polished fragments, carefully chosen and constructed to be as perfect a representation of the entire product as was possible to be. Blue Diamond knew it would be a months, years perhaps, before White would dare to reveal her works in progress. She could never be less than perfect, not even around her own sisters.

After Blue Diamond had broached the subject of the ceremony, they'd got to talking like old times.  It had been ages since Blue Diamond had had a one on one conversation with White. It felt good. White Diamond was a prickly Gem, but oh, when she was in a good mood she made conversation like no other. Blue Diamond was ashamed to admit she'd almost forgotten. They'd talked for hours about the ceremony of the celestial light and the current state of Gem culture. Blue Diamond had even managed to perform her own small miracle. She'd coaxed a faint smile out of her sister.

Blue Diamond smiled and shook her head as she mulled everything over.

"The decamillenial celebration of our empire's founding. Did you believe we'd be here in ten thousand years?"

White's fleeting smile quickly vanished and she resumed her typical look of stony anger.

"You mean facing the collapse of the society we've worked so hard to build in the face of a civil war we're too incompetent to stop by Gems too wretched to know how much we've done for them?"

Blue inwardly cursed herself. What had made her think White wouldn't react poorly to that statement? She knew how touchy her sister was about the subject. It had been foolish to think that a few hours of light conversation would change that. It had been so long since she'd had a good conversation with White. She didn't want this one to end on bad terms.

"I understand your frustration, White, but you need to give yourself more credit. Yes, this war has been waged longer than we anticipated, but Gemkind is still going strong. The fighting is contained to Earth, and we are still firmly in control. We will get through this. You need to believe that."

White shook her head, trying to dispel the fog that threatened to wrap her mind.

"I'm partially to blame for all of it. I was the one to gift that damn Pearl to Pink Diamond in the first place. I knew she was defective and I wanted Pink to have a better one, but she begged me to keep her."

"You never could say no to Pink," Blue Diamond  acknowledged. White shook her head again, still lost in her thoughts.

"I should have said no. Pink Diamond was fine before she got that Pearl. That depraved little beast seduced Pink, filled her head with tainted ideas, and took advantage of her better nature! That detestable abomination corrupted Pink Diamond into Rose, and that wouldn't have happened if I had kept my head."

White Diamond was slipping again. The storm that raged inside her was beginning to form. Blue could see the wispy haze forming behind White's eyes and clouding her mind. White began to pace and Blue tried to pull her back.

"You couldn't have known, White. None of us would have ever expected Pink to end up how she did. This is not your fault."

"It is my fault, because I did know. The Pearls are from corrupted stock, every single one! And I, I was the one to make them. I thought it was such a grand idea. One final affront from beyond the grave. Using their bodies as raw material for a new class of Gem. Forever sentenced to exist as our servants and entertainers. They thought so little of us and of what we could do, it was only fitting they'd spend eternity at the bottom of our hierarchy, the lowest of the low. But I should have known. Bad stock is bad stock, it was inevitable the Pearls would revert to their savage ways. They're trying to eradicate us all over again, and I let it happen! I brought them back to life!"

White Diamond had paced throughout her whole speech, falling farther down inside her head as she went on. Blue called to her, trying to snap White back to the present.

"White!"

She was too far gone to respond. White had become trapped in the past again. She kept pacing in a circle, oblivious to Blue's entreaties.

"Sister!"

Blue reached out and grabbed her, a risky measure in the best circumstances. There was that fine moment, right before White snapped back to reality, where Blue was certain White didn't recognize her. For the moment, Blue had White in her grasp, and she needed to make the most of it if she hoped to keep White from slipping away again.

"You have done nothing of the sort. For better or worse, they weren't like us. You can't touch them after death. They are _gone_ , White, and they've been gone for almost ten thousand years. Whatever the Pearls have done has nothing to do with them anymore."

"Don't tell me you've fallen in with Rose's madness?" White hissed, jerking away from her.

"I'm telling you that you can't punish the dead. It's time to move on, White. You need to focus on our kind, not theirs."

The storm inside White slowly quelled. Blue Diamond wished there was something she could do to settle it for good. She wished it was something she could bring to the physical plain and subdue with her powers. Ever since their first war ended, there was something that lingered inside White Diamond. She'd managed to subdue it for a while, but ever since the new war it had slowly crept back. The past still had White in its grasp, and each time it grabbed it was a little harder for her to shake free.

The war needed to end. It gripped Blue Diamond with a new urgency as it never had before. The war was pulling White Diamond away. Just as surely as it had stolen Pink, the civil war was taking White away too. She couldn't lose two sisters. It was time to stop holding back. They needed to win this war once and for all. For her people. For her sister.

*****

White Pearl was different in her Diamond's domain. She _fit_ in this space, like it was almost made for her. There was a sublime contrast to her bright form against the black marble floor. It drew the eye to her, like a bright star against an empty sky. White Diamond's quarters were lit from all over, casting a harsh light against every surface they touched. There was a contrast and symmetry to the blacks and whites, lights and shadows, details and void that felt overwhelming in its complexity. No matter how much Blue Pearl took in, there was always more to see. Yet wherever White moved, that was where Blue's eyes were inevitably drawn. She was walking back and forth as she continued excitedly.

"-and everything must be recreated from the ground up! The music, the pacing, the choreography, the costumes! Oh, we'll have to get the regalias redesigned too."

White kept summoning holograms as she spoke, displaying everything from sheet music to three-dimensional views of a stage.

"Of course everything in the past was based around the power of four, the Diamond, completion, construction, stability. The power of three! That's so much different, but good! Still a Diamond, but more dynamic! A vector, an arrow, forceful, directional! Of course, that will impact what types of Gem can perform each dance. A trillion-cut brown Topaz will have a much different meaning on a triad-based ceremony."

 More diagrams popped up as White barreled onward, completely wrapped up in her vision. Blue Pearl wished she understood it. White had tried to explain it all to her, all the mystical and symbolic meanings of certain Gem colors and shapes and facets, but Blue had always deeply struggled to comprehend it. When she'd first been made, White had insisted that such knowledge was of utmost importance, but she'd rarely heard anyone mention such things outside the context of fancy performances like this.

" _I brought them back to life_!"

White Diamond's booming voice jolted them both, and the holograms disappeared in a flash. White was sitting beside her in the blink of an eye, perfectly posed with a beatific smile. Blue gripped the edge of her seat nervously. They sat on a polished marble dais, just tall enough for a Pearl. Blue had no doubt that's what it was for. White looked statuesque next to her. Blue Pearl counted herself fortunate that the dais upon which they sat was so far away from White Diamond herself. Her mistress had thankfully sequestered her off in a remote corner of White Diamond's private quarters, where she and White Pearl could be left alone while their Diamonds conversed. Blue Pearl wondered how far White Diamond could throw her statues.

"She's talking about _them_ again. About us."

White Pearl had whispered it quietly, after the immediate threat of White Diamond's explosive tantrums had passed.

"What do you mean?" Blue whispered back. White Pearl looked off in the distance, towards where her Diamond remained. The smile had faded from her face.

"Did you ever wonder how Pearls are made, Blue? You know we're not like other Gems. We don't get formed in Kindergartens. Did you ever ask yourself where we came from?"

Come to think of it, Blue never had heard of any Pearls that were incubated in the ground. She knew they were made, somehow, grown from seed gems like all the other types that had to be put in Kindergartens. Blue Pearl racked her mind, thinking back to her own creation. There'd been something, at first. A fuzzy feeling that barely quantified as a 'self.' Then a blast of light, and awareness, a whole flood of knowledge that sorted itself into place. Her body formed, along with her senses. White Pearl was there, along with White Diamond and her mistress. But that was indoors, no earth to be found. Where did she come from?

White Pearl raised a hand and tilted it slowly from side to side. The light from above caught the slightly opalescent sheen on her porcelain skin, making rainbows dance around her palm.

"And did you ever wonder why your Diamond would have control over water when there's no oceans on our planet?" White Pearl asked quietly.

Blue remained silent. She hadn't thought about that at all. The questions hung in her mind, pieces of a vast puzzle whose finished image was something Pearl never wanted to learn.

"One last question. When you saw the oceans on Earth for the first time, what did it feel like?"

"It felt like...coming home."

White Pearl offered her that almost sad, knowing smile, and Blue Pearl didn't want to accept it. There were a lot of things Blue Pearl didn't know, but this was one topic on which she wanted to remain ignorant. If it was responsible for White Diamond being the kind of Gem she was, Blue Pearl knew she wouldn't be the better for learning it. White Pearl was another story. She grasped Blue's hand tightly between her own, raising it up to her face. 

"I'm proud of it, Blue and you should be too. Our existence is the epitome of the Diamonds' power! The ability to turn the forsaken into the beautiful, darkness to light, death into life!"

White was squeezing her hand even tighter, but Blue couldn't bring herself to pull away. She was caught in White Pearl's wide, liquid black pupils and the way the light danced off them, making it look like there were tiny white fires inside.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that the decamillenial anniversary occurred during a time of crisis. I think this is a sign. Gems are conquerors, Pearl. It's what we were designed to be. Whatever happens, our kind will prevail. That's what this ceremony is about! A reminder of our origins. Now, Blue, I know your Diamond keeps your performances to herself, but I really think you should join me in the Ceremony of the Celestial Light. Yellow too. More than ever we have a sacred duty to remind Gems what we are and what we can be. This is our shining moment, Blue! A chance to inject real vitality into the dwindling morale of our people! Please tell me you'll think it over. I won't ask you to do more than you can, but you should be a part of this too. Oh, Blue, it's going to be so sublime those rebels will simply die of envy from having missing it."

"I'll...think about it."

White squealed in glee and wrapped her arms around Blue. Blue wondered what she'd gotten herself into.

*****

They'd entered Blue Diamond's chambers unannounced. The tall, cloaked figures glided in as if they'd formed out of thin air. They brought a galactic chill with them, void and cosmos seeping through their robes. When Blue Diamond turned to acknowledge them, Pearl saw something she'd hope to never see again. Blue Diamond was afraid.

Their faces were masked by their fan-shaped crests, leaving only their lips, thin as a razor's edge, visible. They were twice as tall as Pearl, and covered the rest of their bodies in long, azure robes. One in front, two behind, all movements so perfectly coordinated that it made the hair on Pearl's neck prickle. When they stopped, the world shifted slightly around them. They were suspended in time, hanging on that brief moment before everything would come rushing up to meet them.

"You will meet with the Oracle in three days, seven hours, twenty-three minutes."

"You are to bring Jacinth Facet 2, Cut 7ND as the Scryer."

"You are to bring your Pearl as your Witness."

And just like that, they pivoted on the spot and glided back out. The chill remained in the room, wisps of cold stars seeping into the crevices.

Her Diamond was trembling.

"Who were they?" Pearl whispered.

"Iolites," Blue Diamond murmured. "The Heralds."

The time had finally come. Blue Diamond was to consult the Oracle.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are folks! At five hundred years into the Gem war, this marks the unofficial half-way point of this fic. Not only that, but it's been almost a year since the very first chapter of Dispatches came out. When I started this fic, I had no idea it would be this long or this involved. This story has just kept growing, and I want to thank everyone who's been along for the ride so far. I'd also like to thank hmrg for reviewing this chapter and helping to make it the best it can be. Here's to another year!

They traveled in silence, because there was nothing to be said between them. Blue Diamond had broken her promise and returned to Earth. The palanquin crept along with an agonizing slowness, cutting through the water like a knife through molten glass. The radiant illumination of Blue Diamond's gem did little to clear a path through the suffocating darkness and the bubble of air encasing the palanquin felt insufficient for the task of keeping out the ocean's magnitude. There were flashes, sometimes, quick movements in the gloom. They were always fish, but Pearl jolted every time, her mind's eye conjuring the gleam of a rebel commander's Gem. Safety was assured, Pearl told herself. This was the promise implicit in their meeting, the five hundredth anniversary of the war. On this day, at this exact time, no harm would befall her Diamond. They would be safe. Pearl told herself this, but the palanquin felt like a microscopic ship adrift in the crushing void of space, lost and directionless. This was not the ocean she had known and loved.

Pearl sank into her mind, as she often did when there was nothing else she could do. She recalled what little she had overheard about the Oracle. She was a Sapphire, Pearl knew, with prophetic abilities far above others of her cut. She was rumored to be capable of seeing far, far into the future. Perhaps even to the end of the war. Pearl didn't know if that last part was true. She did know that the Oracle currently resided in her own shrine on Earth with a few attendants, and had done so since the earliest days of the colony. Blue Pearl had never been there. The only other thing Pearl knew was that this Sapphire was different than the others. She needed some kind of help to make her most far-reaching predictions, by means of a 'Scryer.' Hence their current company.

Standing across from Pearl on her Diamond's left was the Gem called Jacinth. Blue Pearl recognized the type as a Hyacinth Zircon. She'd never heard the name Jacinth before. The Gem was larger than Pearl had expected, and rougher, somehow, in a way Pearl couldn't quite place. The lines under her eyes cut too deep, and her clenched knuckles looked a little too angular.  The unique design of her outfit marked her as a member of the upper crust, but it was far simpler than most designs Pearl had seen before. She decked herself in a simple, crisp tunic with broad, flat straps on her shoulders and a wide band that wrapped across her waist. A small, rectangular purple Gem shone in her left wrist.

After Blue Diamond had been visited by the heralds, she had contacted Jacinth. Jacinth knew something about her role that Blue Pearl did not. Her Diamond had told Jacinth that she had been chosen for the role, but then asked if Jacinth would accept. Jacinth's face had become statue-set at the news, but nodded in assent. It was part of a ritual, Pearl knew. Jacinth had been chosen because the Oracle must have foreseen she'd consent, but the act of gaining consent anyway was what made it feel legitimate.

Pearl didn't know how long they traveled, or even how far. Time and distance lost their meaning in this place. At some point, Pearl caught a glimpse of a faint light wavering in the dark abyss. Her first thought was that someone had lit a fire in the ocean. The palanquin crept onwards; they'd found their destination.

The Sea Shrine was a lantern on the ocean floor; the light spilling through its walls cast a ghost-blue glimmer over the surrounding gorge. A set of colonnades marked the entrance, stretching up into the dark out of sight. Massive statues flanked the far ends, features swallowed by the murk. The details of the shrine resolved with their approach.

A vaulted antechamber with a solid ceiling and massive windows fixed between fluted columns received them. In the back yawned a wide  hallway, connecting the antechamber to a massive rotunda domed in glass. Pearl could make out two small side chambers jutting off from the larger section. Dark figures stood out against the eerie glow within.

The palanquin veered suddenly, ambling towards something Pearl didn't see. Only once they were on top of it did Pearl realize it was a warp pad. Blue Diamond's gem quietly hummed with energy as the light within grew brighter.  The bubble around the palanquin expanded, creating a dry void above and around the warp. The warp activated with a ping, engulfing their small group in a flash of light.

 A surge of energy carried the palanquin and its contents onwards. Pearl didn't understand. Why bother traveling through the ocean if— A throb and tremble racked the palanquin as the calm stream turned into a rough eddy. Something was wrong. Jacinth's stony demeanor broke into rapid, uneasy glances.  Their turbulence was such that even Blue Diamond seemed unnerved.

"We will be fine," Blue Diamond mumbled audibly, more to herself than to her attendants. "It's an isolated circuit, here and back. There's no place to get lost." Jacinth's gaze traveled from Blue Diamond to Pearl. They were thinking the same thing: it didn't feel fine at all. Just as quickly as it happened, the stream calmed and they reached their destination.  The light from the warp faded and three familiar forms appeared in front of them. The heralds were no less striking the second time around. Blue Pearl felt something inside her clench in their presence

"You have arrived on time."

"You will come with us."

"The Oracle expects you."

The heralds pivoted on the spot and glided away, down the hall and back towards the larger chamber. Pearl was certain that the heralds did not walk. She blinked beneath the curtain of her hair as her eyes adjusted to the light in the Sea Shrine. Blue Diamond rose from her throne and made her way down the hall. Jacinth followed with Pearl trailing behind.

Pearl noticed the hourglasses first. Well over a hundred sat on tables running the length of the chamber, and even more lined the corridor walls. The sand flowed down in some, up in others, and remained stationary in a select few. As Pearl got closer, tiny pinpricks began to dance across her skin. There was a flow of energy to them, an electricity that seemed to flutter  slowly through the air. The hair on Pearl's neck rose in response, shuddering like grass against a breeze. She stared as the grains spilled through one timepiece with an unnatural slowness. The white-blue substrate inside shimmered with an unnatural brightness.

Moving on, Pearl's eyes were drawn to the largest hourglass at the very back of the small chamber where they'd entered. The massive artifact nearly brushed the ceiling, but held no sand inside. Pearl felt an odd tugging sensation in her Gem as she stared at it. She saw herself reflected in the empty glass. It looked like she was standing inside. Her feet began to move forward, unbidden by her mind.

"Pearl."

Blue Diamond's urgent call cut through the mist that had wrapped Pearls' mind. She blinked and the relic's allure morphed into the insatiable draw of a black hole. Pearl scurried as fast as was decent to her Diamond's side. The monolithic Iolites had stopped in the center of the larger room. There were hourglasses in this area too, but of greater interest was the familiar object just beyond their guides. A shallow, flat bottomed basin, much like the one Blue Diamond owned, right down to the blue and purple iridescent coating. This one, however, existed on a much grander scale and lacked the etched filigree band on the outside.

Blue Diamond stopped in front of the motionless Iolites with Jacinth on her left and Pearl coming up on her right.

"You have arrived."

The voice was like the cracking of a glacier. The heralds parted and Pearl stood face-to-face with the Oracle. Her silver-blue hair hung in misty wisps, masking her face. If she rose to her full height, Pearl would have had to look up slightly at her, but she remained deeply hunched. Poking out from the edges of her spindly grasp, Pearl caught glimpse of a vibrantly blue gem in her left hand. Blue Diamond offered a small bow to her, and both Jacinth and Pearl quickly followed  lead. The Oracle remained unmoved.

"You have not sought my guidance since the Sky Arena. You no longer trust our kind."

Pearl stole a quick glance at her mistress. In the aftermath of Sapphire's defection, Blue Diamond had learned a hard lesson. A seer could not be directly utilized to defeat another seer. It was not for lack of effort. When Sapphire had first fled, Blue Diamond had invoked others in her quest to find her. The result was always the same, and a precursor of things to come. The first Sapphire would make her prediction, Blue Diamond would begin to mobilize an effort to send Gems to that location, and then something would happen. The new Sapphire would become panicked at some point realizing  her first prediction was suddenly wrong. It was only later that they understood.

Before, Sapphires had understood time as a vector: a singular, directional force, unswerving and unshakable. The traitor had changed that, forever altering their playing field. Now, Sapphires understood time as a graph drawn in sand, something constantly in flux, and subject to the whim of those who saw it.  Whoever used their vision first, be it the rebel or a loyal Gem, could have their prediction rendered moot by the foresight of her opponent and vice versa.

"I do not deny that I have been betrayed before," Blue Diamond deliberated. "I would be a fool to ignore the harm that that has done. But time and again I have reached out to you and your fellow seers. My Clarity, I beseech you. Illuminate my way. Show me the path I must follow."

"You do not seek guidance. You wish to activate the glass of time. You would use it to strike Rose Quartz down on the day she took your Sapphire."

Pearl blinked. Six more Iolites clustered around the original three. They must have been standing in a side chamber, but Pearl hadn't seen them until now. Their faces remained hidden behind their fanned masks, but Pearl could feel every set of eyes in the room lock on her mistress.

"If there is a better opportunity, I will take it," Blue Diamond countered, aware of the sudden scrutiny.

The Oracle, Pearl realized, did not have lips. Like the stony Iolites, her mouth was only a thin crease. It expanded in a horizontal line across the plane of her face, showcasing her distaste. Without being bidden, one of the Iolites approached. In a rapid motion, the Oracle seized her attendant's sash and tore a small piece off the edge. The Iolite glided away and the Oracle displayed her prize.

"Other Sapphires see only a single thread. I alone see the whole fabric. Make no mistake of it. Time is a fabric. Interwoven. Bendable. Breakable. To change a day's worth of events--"

She took the embroidered fabric between her thumbs and tore a nick at the fringe.

"To change a month-"

The nick expanded to a jagged tear down the center.

"At seven hundred years-"

The Oracle ripped the cloth in two, and Pearl's nerves frayed along with it. Blue Diamond remained unswayed.

"I appreciate your concern, but I have no intention of using such a powerful force with reckless abandon.  If this war cannot end before it begins, then so it is. But I cannot stand by knowing there might be some way to end this war quickly, or to undo the brunt of the damage. You are the only one capable of safely utilizing the glass. As a fellow Gem, it is your duty to alleviate the suffering of your sisters. As a subject of the Diamond empire, it would also behoove you to remember to whom you owe your allegiance."

"Do not forget that I call no one my master," The Oracle declared, "not before and not now. The power contained in this shrine has the potential to destroy reality. My duty is to prevent that. It is a calling higher than a master's command. Even as they faced their own demise, your predecessors never thought to destroy space-time in an effort to spare themselves. It would befit you to remember that."

"And you would dare suggest that I would?"

"No," The Oracle answered after a time. "You would not. We will divine the future. We will see if the glass may be used. Come."

They approached the scrying bowl with the Oracle and Jacinth leading, followed by Blue Diamond and Pearl. The Iolites trailed behind and Pearl wondered if her Diamond felt the ethereal chill nipping at her back and heels. The bowl itself came nearly to Pearl's chest, and spanned about three and a half times that. Now that she was up close, Pearl could see inside. A thick band was etched where the shallow slope of the basin met the wide, flat bottom. Lines radiated from this inner band at regular intervals, resembling a blue sunburst. A symbol was carved inside each section.

The Oracle extended a hand to Jacinth, revealing the luminous, seven-faceted stone within. Jacinth hesitated, then took it. With the Oracle's guidance, Jacinth climbed up into the basin as neatly as she could. Jacinth seated herself in the center, legs tucked underneath her body and clenched fists resting on her knees. She was breathing, Pearl noticed. Her chest rose and fell in a neat rhythm of needless lungs.

The Oracle floated up and came to hover beside Jacinth. She placed her gemmed hand atop the stone in Jacinth's wrist, causing the latter to flinch.

"Why were you chosen to become the Scryer?"

"To serve my people," Jacinth told her.

"And?" Jacinth cast her gaze on Blue Diamond, silently pleading for something Pearl could only guess. She wasn't sure if Jacinth received what she wanted, because she then turned her attention out to the darkness beyond the glass walls.

"Because Pink Diamond is my Diamond. I only belong to her," Jacinth murmured.

"Close your eyes," the Oracle instructed. "Focus." Jacinth took a deep breath and did so, her eyebrows knit in concentration.

"Picture your Diamond. Do you see her?"

"I do."

The Oracle cupped Jacinth's cheek in her free hand and pressed her face against the side of Jacinth's head. She began to whisper something Pearl couldn't hear. Jacinth's eyelids fluttered softly and her breathing stopped. She seemed at peace. A low ringing began to softly echo through the chamber. Pearl turned back and realized the Heralds had begun to sing.

As the sonorous melody of the Heralds filled the shrine, Pearl and Blue Diamond watched the proceedings in silent awe. Jacinth's gem lit in flickering bursts, attuning to the rise and fall of the masked chorus. The Heralds' voices rung like ancient bells, and the reverberation filled everything in the room. Their song echoed through Pearl's body, growing stronger and stronger in a bid to escape.

The A steady pulse of light emanated from the Oracle's gem, flashing and throbbing like the beat of a crystal heart. The glow in Jacinth's gem steadied underneath her touch, the purple light slowly expanding outwards. The Oracle sped her incantation until the whispered words rushed like cold water,  plunging Jacinth deeper into her trance.

The song of the Heralds grew louder, more insistent, and Pearl desperately struggled not to join in. Her body was a dam holding in a flood of sound on the verge of breaking. She needed to sing with a frenzied desire she'd never known, the way water rushed to fill a vessel, the way nature had to fill a void.

The tremorous  pulse of the Oracle's gem grew stronger and Pearl swore she could hear it, throbbing in a secret code that begged for response. The dam broke and Blue Pearl's voice rushed past her lips and spiraled upwards to join the Heralds in a dizzying crescendo. The Oracle clasped a handful of Jacinth's hair and harshly whispered in a wild frenzy. Her grip on Jacinth's wrist tightened, but Jacinth was oblivious. She was completely lost in the spell cast upon her.

A clap of thunder burst from the basin and a bright flash burned itself into Pearl's eyes. The chorus halted abruptly and Blue Pearl blinked as her vision cleared. Jacinth was gone. In her place, a dozen or so shards had scattered across the scrying bowl. The Oracle remained stationary as a few remaining ice shards fell from her gem into the basin. There remained something stuck inside Pearl. Some last little bit of song that slowly withered up within her. Blue Diamond slowly approached the vessel and Pearl had no choice but to follow behind her.

The Oracle floated downward, the edges of her skirt aligning perfectly with the etched circle inside the bowl. She pointed to the largest shard, resting parallel to a curled, inter-looping symbol. It was big enough that Pearl could still see the smooth cut of Jacinth's facets on it. 

"The beast must slumber in its cave. Allow it to bed down, and it will cause you no grief."

The Oracle had spoken, but it took a few seconds for Pearl to comprehend what she had said. Everything felt slightly askew, as if time had become off-track for her alone. She watched the proceedings, but felt like a stranger observing from a foreign body. The Oracle pointed to another shard, resting in a different segment of the basin: a corner piece with its neat edge still intact. The symbol in this segment was jagged, with two short lines intersecting it.

"They will not know the value of the treasure seized. Do not rush to reclaim it, or it will be lost."

She pointed to another shard, nearly at the rim.

"She desired a mirror, but fears the reflection. Weep. For when the mirror breaks, she reveals herself."

This was what they had sought? Jacinth's life for this? Blue Pearl numbly fell into her mind. The Oracle continued, and Pearl understood nothing. She was pointing and speaking, but Pearl didn't hear her until she indicated the last shard, resting neatly inside the last symbol, a circle with a dot inside.

"Time ripples back on itself, and history echoes into the future. The fate of the war rests on your head, feller of the first colony. If you have learned anything as a matriarch, you will not repeat your mistakes."

Standing beside her, Pearl could hear the minute rustling of Blue Diamond's cloak as she shifted back to a nearly imperceptible degree. The hidden eyes of the Iolites were on them again.  The Oracle had caught Blue Diamond with the finest of threads, a snare sprung from a loop of silk. She blinked rapidly a few times and if Pearl didn't know better, she'd think her mistress was trying to hold back tears. But then the moment passed and Blue Diamond regained her resolve.

"I see," Blue Diamond murmured. "And what of the outliers?"

Two tiny shards had shot outside the basin and tucked neatly against one of the hourglasses. Pearl hadn't even noticed. The thin crease of the Oracle's mouth tightened again.

"Those tell me what would happen if you were to take the glass."

"Which would be?"

"You will learn for yourself in due time. It will be activated in the future, when its hour has arrived. Time seeks to heal itself, and to that end, the glass seeks its own destruction. Once activated, it will find a means to destroy itself. Reflect carefully on its power."

While the Oracle floated up and out of the basin, three of the Iolites came up to meet her. Two began to collect the shards, and the third followed behind the Oracle as she made her way towards the hall. Blue Diamond and Pearl followed after her.

"Thank you, my Oracle."

The Oracle continued down the hall, not sparing a glance back.

"I have nothing more to give you, Blue Diamond. Remember all I have done for you, and do not say that I shirked my duty."

The palanquin waited for them on the warp pad in the smaller antechamber. Pearl weakly climbed the platform. There was a ringing in her head that refused to go away. The song of the Heralds still lingered.

"Wait."

Blue Diamond stopped, turning back to the Oracle.

"My old temple was built from the remains of our monolith, where Sector Mu once stood. It is a haven. Remember this."

Blue Diamond bowed.

"Thank you."

"We all have a duty to fulfill. We have never seen eye to eye, Blue Diamond, but I appreciate what you have done for us. I only hope that the day will come when you can do the same. For everything I have done, I have done for peace."

*****

Pearl was never going to see her home again. She was convinced that the palanquin had ceased moving, perhaps for many years. Not even the ride to the shrine had taken this agonizingly long. They were trapped in the endless dark, and there was nothing Pearl could do about it. They'd said nothing to each other when they left, and the silence was almost as suffocating as the murk.

"I wasn't allowed to tell you," Blue Diamond murmured unbidden. Pearl turned to her. "The Witness must be a Gem who's never seen the ritual before. You were not allowed to know."

Numb. Blue Pearl felt like her mind was numb. She wanted to think something, to feel something, but there was only a buzzing in her head that refused to leave. Pearl looked to her Diamond for comfort, but exhaustion had collected in the creases of her mistress's eyes and mouth like dust.

"A scrying is always draining," Blue Diamond told her. "You did very well."

Pearl nodded, even though she didn't agree with the last part. She interrupted the ceremony. Looking back on it now, Blue Pearl was surprised no one scolded her for acting out of turn. Was that part of the scrying too? Pearl tried to relive the moment, but it already felt foggy and disjointed.

"That's how it used to be, the way we did things."

Blue Diamond was staring ahead into the murk. Everything around was blackness, cut only by the light of Blue Diamond's gem. Her face deeply underlit, Blue Diamond seemed a spectral presence emanating from the dark. Her eyes gleamed out of the shadows, a twin pair of beacons in the gloom.

"You understand that society is kept running by the power of repurposed Gem shards, don't you?"

Pearl nodded, hung rapt on her Diamond's word.

"After the First War, we were faced with a choice. We had entire infrastructures of technology built on the remains of our brethren. Our choice was this: we could truly destroy everything and start from scratch, living as primitives while hoping it was possible to recreate everything from the ground up, without Gem power; or we could find a way to make the system we inherited bearable. We chose the latter."

Blue Pearl craned her head up to stare at the figure towering over her. Her Diamond, her beloved, was gone. The thing left behind was a god bearing her image. Something untouchable and unknowable. Pearl felt as though this being had transported her to some primordial spot, either before or after the beginning of everything, when there was nothing but herself, this goddess, and the dark.

"We created rituals for when Gems had to be sacrificed, and divided the tasks accordingly. White Diamond chose the Gems involved, I oversaw the act itself, Yellow processed the remains, and Pink made Gems to replace the ones we had to use. Now everything's hidden. We whisk Gems away and harvest them in secret because no one wants to keep the rituals. Gems would rather turn a blind eye than come to terms with the burden our society bears. That's what Pink never understood. These ceremonies weren't meant to be pretty, they were meant to be meaningful. They were designed to give everyone involved a feeling of purpose. The artfulness was meant to underscore the gravity, not detract from it. The decision is never supposed to be easy. White and Yellow prefer it, but I despise what the process has become. It feels too much like it did before. They call it 'harvesting' now, as if we were..."

Blue Diamond took a shuddering breath and continued.

"As if we were designed to be fodder all along."

Pearl had nothing of comfort she could think to say. The palanquin traveled on, heedless of burden borne by the Gems inside.

*****

"What do you mean, it's gone?" Blue Diamond boomed.

"It's just....gone, my Diamond! Not destroyed, just not there! No trace of it."

"A shrine cannot just disappear! Find it! I don't care if you have to dredge the whole damn planet!"

The news broke the next day: the Sea Shrine had vanished. Blue Diamond had sent every available resource in search of it. Even now, Red Eyes were scanning the Earth and Gems were combing every sector and temple for the lost Oracle. As soon as the first call ended, another one popped up from Yellow Diamond.

"Did that Sapphire keep your common sense or have you just lost that on your own?" Yellow Diamond snapped as soon as she was patched through. "We're trying to fight a war and you suddenly reroute every Gem at your fingertips for what? A few over-polished soothsayers and a shrine of no importance?"

"For a tactician you're being terribly stupid," Blue Diamond snarled back. "Have you forgotten what was housed in there?"

 "A Gem who never swore fealty and a few curios from the old days. Truly a loss," Yellow drawled.

"The clock of ages was in there!" Blue Diamond howled. "Our one means of altering time! Do you understand what would happen if it were to fall into rebel hands? The end of us, the end of everything! There will be nothing if it cannot be retrieved!!"

Yellow Diamond's sneer dropped in an instant as the weight of the situation hit her.

"I have four battalions quite skilled in underwater combat and a score of ships equipped with advanced scanners suitable for deep water. They will be at your disposal."

Blue Diamond nodded and ended the transmission. Her mind ran with the possibilities what might happen now. With the clock of ages in the Oracle's hands, her one chance to undo her mistake had vanished-- and that was the least of the troubles. If the Oracle used the clock for herself, there was no limit to  what she might do. If a rebel managed to find it, their empire's her days were numbered. It had been a very long time since Blue Diamond felt her own death creeping up on her, but it loomed over her now, waiting patiently for its chance to drop.

"Pearl," Blue Diamond whispered, "please dance."

As Blue Pearl began to twirl and twist, Blue Diamond tried to calm herself. If the Oracle had been intent on using the glass, she could have done so as soon as Blue Diamond left. There was still a chance to find her. She'd sent Gems scouring every corner of Earth and Homeworld for clues to her whereabouts. There were only so many places to hide.

Blue Pearl danced, swaying and turning to the beat of an unsung tune. She felt powerless to help her Diamond. Another Sapphire had betrayed her.  What would happen to them all if the Oracle joined forces with Rose? One Sapphire was enough of a burden for her Diamond, but a Gem of the Oracle's magnitude was something different. The Oracle's last words still rang in Blue Pearl's mind:

'Everything I've done, I've done for peace.'

She certainly had an odd way of showing it, assuming that wasn't a conscious lie. Her mistress had been counting on the use of this timepiece, and the Oracle had taken it for herself. Pearl wondered what kind of vision she'd seen, if she'd even seen one at all.

A cautious knocking at her door interrupted her thoughts. Blue Pearl ceased dancing and Blue Diamond called for the Gem to enter. The doors creaked open and the Gem made her way inside. Pearl inhaled quietly, an astral chill creeping into her face and down her neck. The purple-red Gem in the lilac tunic saluted respectfully before Blue Diamond. In her left wrist, a small, rectangular gem shone under the cool lights.

"What are you doing here?" Blue Diamond whispered. The Gem before them blinked in confusion. Blue Pearl found herself slowly backing away.

"I...was summoned here, my Diamond. On your orders. I don't know what you want of me."

"You were the Scryer," Blue Diamond declared. "I took you there myself. I watched--How are you here?"

"My Diamond," Jacinth answered quietly, "I've been stationed in Sector 3L for years. You can check with anyone. If you want me to perform the sacred rite, I'll consent, but-"

"No. You...you are dismissed. Return to your station. I apologize for the commotion."

Jacinth bowed, still deeply confused.

"As you wish, my Diamond."

She made her way back to the door, sparing a few anxious glances back along the way. It was her. There was no mistaking that this Jacinth was her. The one who'd traveled with them and remained behind in pieces. The Gem that Blue Pearl had seen shattered under the force of the Oracle's ice shards was standing in front of her now, ready to go back to a life she perceived as uninterrupted.

"Jacinth," Blue Diamond called after her as she was half-way out the door, "Pink Diamond is dead. You belong to me."

The confusion blossomed into a look of fear. Jacinth nodded and bowed deeply before closing the doors. The resulting thud echoed in the room, making Pearl's head hurt. Blue Diamond made her way to her palanquin, legs collapsing underneath her as she sat. Pearl remained where she was, still watching the door. She finally understood why none of the Diamonds wanted to be involved with time magic.


	10. Chapter 10

It had been almost a month, and aside from Jacinth's continued existence reality seemed as intact as it was before. The Sea Shrine had yet to resurface, and neither Gems from Earth nor Homeworld had seen any sign of the Oracle. For all the world, it was as though she had simply vanished. The wheels of time kept turning, and Blue Diamond's initial panic slowly subsided.

"Blue?"

The Ceremony of the Celestial Light was creeping closer and White Diamond had completed most of the preparations. Even though it was still a few decades away, White Pearl insisted it was time to begin practicing. She'd even gotten her Diamond's consent to take time away and had been granted clearance to perform in a private room. It was rather plain by White Diamond's standards, which suited Blue just fine. It was a smallish enclave tucked in the back of White Diamond's quarters and contained only a large floor medallion and pendentive ceiling. No furniture or decorations hinted at its purpose, but four figures had been carved into upper recesses of the ceiling. Blue squinted as she tried to make out what they looked like.

"Blue!" Blue Pearl snapped out of her thoughts to find White tapping an impatient foot in her direction. "Honestly, Blue, I suspect you haven't caught a single word I've said."

Blue decided it was best not to confirm White's suspicions. She mumbled an apology and stood at attention. White had the starring role, but Blue and Yellow were appearing as well. According to White, they all had to learn how to perform together. For such a smart Gem, this may not have been White Pearl's best idea. White twirled on her heel and the lights suddenly went out. As Blue and Yellow shuffled blindly through the darkness, White's voice rang above them.

"Let us start from the beginning. The Ceremony of the Celestial Light is a dramatic retelling of our creation myth."

The flash of White's gem brought her face into sharp relief. A tiny, holographic beam shot from her gem and came to rest in the center of the room. The minuscule bead of light flickered in the darkness.

"First there was a singularity: a lone point which contained the whole of our existence. From this point, the Goddess of Light took form. She exploded outwards in a radiant blast, and all the matter of the universe expanded in her majestic wake."

As White narrated, the pinprick of light rapidly grew into a being. Holographic flecks dashed past them in facsimile of galaxies and stardust. The being rose to tower over them. The light illuminated Yellow Pearl, standing a few feet away from Blue, but White had ducked farther off and remained unseen.

"The Goddess looked upon the universe she created and found it lacking, for though there was matter, there was nothing which resembled her beauty. Therefore she took the raw materials around her and fashioned something new. She made stars, thus spreading her holy light throughout creation."

The giant held her hands to her chest, threw her arms wide, and the whole room became illuminated with tiny dots of light. Blue twirled around in wonder at White's illusion. A monochrome galaxy surrounded them, and Blue felt like a giant in the midst of it all. Off to her right, Yellow reached out in wide-eyed awe to poke at a tiny solar system floating in front of her.

"Yet the Goddess's joy was short lived. She held unimaginable power, true, but she was also a being of pure light. Without a solid form to act as an anchor, she risked being ripped apart from her own sheer magnitude. The only way to save herself was to find a means of containing her form inside a solid vessel. To preserve her existence, the Goddess cleft herself in trine and formed a Gemstone around each of her new components. Thus, three goddesses sprang in her wake, each of whom embodied a different aspect of their creator: The Sun Goddess, the Moon Goddess, and the Star Goddess."

The giant figure struck at her core, emitting a bright flash. In her wake stood the familiar forms of the goddesses. Blue Pearl stared in amazement. They looked alive. The Moon Goddess was closest to her, and Blue subconsciously  felt herself shrink from this apparition. Her arms rested in front of her and she held the most convincing look of serene grace. Completely shrouded in white light, Blue expected her to spring to life at any moment.

"The first act of the new goddesses was to inspect the grand creation which they'd inherited.  Although the universe their progenitor made was very beautiful, it was also empty. There was no one to admire it aside from themselves. Therefore, the goddesses each fashioned one new Gem in likeness of herself and they called these new creations the Diamonds. Each goddess then bestowed her Diamond with a name and a duty. "

The illuminated figures had doubled. The Goddesses stood back-to-back in a loose circle, and in front of them appeared the Diamonds, heads bowed in reverence. Four of the holograms dimmed, leaving the Sun Goddess and her charge to take center stage.

"To you, White Diamond, who walks through the world most brightly, I give you the power of life and death. The universe is divided into light and dark, and nothing exists that does not have an end. It is your fate to mete to each their portion."

The Sun Goddess touched White Diamond's forehead softly, her astral fingers running along the fringe of White Diamond's hair. Their images dimmed and the Star Goddess was next, suddenly abask in a new surge of light.

"To you, Yellow Diamond, who walks through the world most boldly, I give you the power of peace and war. Where you turn, your foes crumble and your allies shine. You will lead your kind to create an empire as vast as the stars in the sky."

The Sun Goddess placed her palm with confidence on Yellow Diamond's chest. The image of the Moon Goddess and her Diamond lit up, and something jumped in Blue Pearl's chest as it happened.

"To you, Blue Diamond, who walks through the world most softly, I give you the power of harmony and discord. There is an ebb and flow to life, as there is to the principles that govern it. It is your fate to preserve the balance."

The Moon Goddess traced her hand down Blue Diamond's flowing hair to rest on her Gem. The visage of her Diamond bowed in reverence. The magic of the scene had Pearl tightly in its grasp. She knew in the back of her mind that it was made-up, but Blue Pearl still wondered for a moment if White was replaying an event she'd actually witnessed. Maybe it wasn't nonsense. Blue Pearl was only beginning to appreciate just how much White had truly seen in her lifetime.

"Each goddess taught her Diamond all she knew, and once their education proved satisfactory, the goddesses bequeathed a gift onto them. It was a planet; the most perfect one in all of creation. This was to be their homeworld. The Diamonds in turn fashioned Gems like themselves who would assist them in their goals. Under the careful guidance of their makers, the Diamonds created all the Gems we know today, each with a divinely ordained role to fill. These first blessed few crafted the basis of our empire, and the goddesses were most pleased by the diligence and unity their subjects displayed. Confident they'd left their homeworld in good hands, the goddesses departed for the far reaches of the cosmos. Before leaving, they offered one last decree to their creations:

'Go forth, and spread light throughout the universe. Illuminate that which is darkened, and refine that which is crude. Most of all, walk through the world with confidence, for you carry a spark of the divine within you.'"

The illusion broke as light flooded that chamber once again. Blue Pearl blinked a few times under her bangs as she readjusted to the harsh glare. White Pearl trotted over from across the room, looking quite pleased with herself. A little pang of jealousy burned inside Blue. No other Pearl could make holograms like that and White knew it. White Pearl was completely within her element, and nothing could subdue her shine. No matter what Blue and Yellow did, they'd never compare with her.

"I don't understand," Yellow declared. White smiled indulgently and waved her hand.

"Well, it is a very nuanced performance. I assume that reeducation in the classical texts is a must, given your lack of, well, experience. That being said, I do greatly feel-"

"No, I don't understand why we're doing this. It's not like anyone _believes_ in goddesses. Certainly no one from my Diamond's court. Don't misunderstand me, because I'm not trying to demean White Diamond's work, but why tell a story no one believes?"

"Because the veracity of the goddesses is irrelevant. That's not the point." White told her.

"Then what is?" Blue asked.

"The Goddesses are a metaphorical ideal, not real entities. They are symbols of our self-interpretation. Mirrors, if you will, of our ideal selves. History is not a continuum of facts, my dears, it is an art like any other which has been carefully constructed to serve a specific purpose."

"Now that's just ridiculous," Yellow interrupted. "I may not understand all these artsy things, but facts are facts, and that _is_ my specialty. You can't just make something up and call it history, White. "

White placed a palm against her face and shook her head bashfully.

"Why, how terribly silly of me. Yes, after all, if I could just make up any little lie I wish, I might say Pink Diamond is alive and merely abdicated her throne, and Rose Quartz is just a fantasy concocted by the Diamonds to justify their persecution of her. Isn't that a fantastic little fiction?"

White stared with a laser focus and Yellow blanched so hard she'd turned a pale shade of cream. Blue watched as she struggled to think of a retort, lost between chastising White for uttering a forbidden truth and defending her overblown egotism from White's affront. Yellow sputtered a few times before White finally interjected.

"History is a narrative, Yellow. Don't ever forget that."

*****

For a Gem loyal to her empire, Blue Pearl had performed an extraordinary number of subversive actions in her lifetime. It came with the territory of being in a relationship with a Diamond. This was different. This was new.

"To your left," Pearl encouraged, "tilt farther."

"Like so?" Blue Diamond asked as she followed Pearl's direction. Pearl nodded and blushed more deeply. After the incident with the Sea Shrine, Blue Diamond needed time to decompress. Pearl couldn't blame her, but the other Diamonds were only too eager to voice their objections. It was too dangerous, they had told her, and she couldn't afford to be away for any length of time. Blue Diamond was taking a one-week sabbatical on an abandoned moon in defiance of them both. Pearl didn't even know what purpose this moon would have served. It was a tiny thing which held only a single, crumbling structure too degraded to know how it might have appeared in ages past. The courtyard in which they'd settled had dissolved down to the foundation, leaving a jagged line of crumbling walls and a floor hinting at a long-lost mural. A galaxy warp stood a short distance away, with a disrupter firmly in place. As long as it was active, the warp was no more than an inert slab. There were no computers, no guards, no ships. They were all alone, and taking full advantage of it.

It was Blue Diamond who'd suggested it after Pearl had finished her own routine. So here she was, sitting on the palanquin and coaching her mistress how to dance. Blue Diamond twirled and an electric rush coursed through Pearl. It was thrilling, illicit even. The swapping of roles, even at her mistress's desire, made Pearl feel once again that she was doing something deeply rebellious. Blue Pearl brushed the hair from her face as she devoured the sight in front of her. Her eyes traced up the swell of Blue Diamond's hips, the flow of her dark, silky hair as she moved, and those luminous eyes, shining with a mischievous twinkle Pearl had never seen before. Pearl blushed deeper when her mistress turned away, shaking her hips in imitation of Pearl.

"That's not proper," Pearl told her with a nervous laugh.

"No, not in the least," Blue Diamond replied with a sly wink. Blue Pearl laughed again and Blue Diamond's eyes sparkled at her, shining with a radiance that filled Pearl up to her Gem.

"Consider this retribution. You ought to know how it feels when you do this to me."

Apparently Blue Pearl had been skilled in the art of torture and hadn't even known it.

"Pearl, I have an idea. Come here."

Pearl obliged, hopping off the palanquin to dart over to her Diamond. They stood in the center of the ruins, surrounded by the vast expanse of foreign stars. The tile was cool on Pearl's feet, but a warmth had lodged itself deep in her body and refused to leave. Blue Diamond leaned down and offered her hands to Pearl, who eagerly took them in her own. Her Diamond's body turned alight as she adjusted her form, compacting herself down to stand only a head above Pearl. Pearl's chest fluttered and she tightened her grip on her Diamond's hands.

"There is a well below our feet, Pearl. Can you feel the water inside?"

Pearl didn't want to focus on anything besides the Gem in front of her, but tried her best anyway. She had a little bit of magic, a touch of hydrokinesis. It was enough to do small tricks, but nothing of note. Pearl concentrated and felt the faint presence of water far, far beneath them. She nodded in acknowledgement and Blue Diamond continued.

"I know we can't return to the Sky Spire yet, but this place was quite similar. You remember the last time you performed for me out there, don't you?"

"Of course," Pearl answered.

"I was happy there, Pearl. More than that, I was at peace. That is not a state which often grants me its presence. I don't know what our future holds, but for tonight, let's be at peace."

Pearl reluctantly let go of her Diamond's hands and extended her arms above the stone. She called to the water in her mind, bidding it to rise. The water was so far down, and for a frightening moment Pearl was worried her powers would be insufficient for the task. Then she felt it answer in her Gem, rolling up the sides of the well unseen. Small beads of water bubbled up through the cracks in the stone. They puddled slowly, growing in clusters across the expanse of the ruins. Pearl kept her focus, coaxing more droplets to dash upward. The floor had turned into a mirror. Pearl and Blue Diamond stood inside a dry circle, surrounded by stars at their feet.

Blue Diamond took Pearl's extended hands and nudged her closer until their bodies were flush. She took a step back and Pearl followed, moving with her Diamond to a tuneless waltz through the stars. The danced slowly across the night sky and Pearl felt awash in love for this Gem, this being of such delicate complexity that she could still surprise Pearl even after all these years.

"So tell me Pearl, do I have the makings of a dancer?"

"A fine one."

"I had a good instructor," Blue Diamond teased. Pearl laughed again and rested her face against her mistress's gem. It felt warm against her face, or perhaps that was only the fiery blush of her own cheeks. One of Blue Diamond's hands glided along her waist and Pearl pressed herself closer, feeling as if she was ready to melt into the floor without her Diamond to keep her together.

"You'd make a good Pearl."

Blue Diamond stopped and Pearl suddenly realized what she'd said. She jolted backwards and splashed into the thin pool around them.

"M-my Diamond, I didn't- Please forgive me, I wasn't thinking, I-"

"Pearl, stop."

Pearl halted. Her frantic stumble backwards had sent violent ripples through the pool, destroying the illusion of starlight on the ground. The water lapped at her ankles. She no longer felt warm. What she'd uttered was practically heresy. No longer bound by magic, the little pool drained back down through the cracks in the stone. Tiny, star-filled puddles remained, like little handheld mirrors scattered across the floor. They stared at each other from across the courtyard. The moment had been lost. Blue Diamond made her way towards her palanquin. Blue Pearl watched her mistresses, but remained rooted by a deep shame. Blue Diamond sat on the mattress and patted the spot beside her. She remained at her reduced size.

"Please. Sit. I believe it's time we had a talk."

Pearl crept forward on leaden feet. She didn't know what her Diamond had in store for her. She pulled herself onto the palanquin mattress, bare feet dangling off the edge. To her surprise, Blue Diamond placed a palm on top of hers. Pearl turned to her mistress in curiosity.

"Pearl, I have lived a very long time. I can mark my years by certain events, and the impact they have left: the loss of Pink Diamond, the founding of our empire, the day I met you."

The hand on top of hers gave a small squeeze, and Pearl's cheeks were reignited with a fresh blush. Without the shelter of her veil, Pearl could make out traces of a dark indigo dusting her mistress's face as well.

"I recall very clearly the Gem I used to be before you came into my life. I was a dutiful Gem, but not a contented one. Such a factor had never been a consideration. When I ordered your creation, I had expected a Gem who could provide diversions, nothing more. You were so much more than that. You were enchanting, my Pearl. A Diamond is made to exist apart from other Gems. The duties imposed upon us by society mean that we are not able to be part of that which we create. We must exist above Gemkind, not with it.  Therefore, a Diamond is not able to love anything. A Diamond cannot afford to love anything. And yet I love you dearly, my Pearl. You bring out something bright in me, and I am better for it. For as long as I live, you will always be by my side. "

Blue darted up and clutched at Blue Diamond, showering her face with hungry kisses. A hand wrapped around her head, burying itself in her thick locks as Pearl's own arms wrapped around her prize.

"I love you, my Diamond," she whispered fiercely.

"And I, you, my Pearl."

*****

This was the good kind of tired. Pearl breathed in the faint whiff of ozone and wet stone that had embedded itself into the sheets and felt entirely at ease. Her body felt luxuriously discombobulated, parts of her blending in with the mattress and sheets and the body curled up around her.

"I'll have to shift back soon," Blue Diamond crooned as she wrapped her arms more tightly around Pearl's body. Pearl craned her neck back as much as she could to give her mistress a kiss. It was never long enough. While it was easier now to make time for intimacy than it had been during the first few centuries of the war, Blue Diamond still didn't often shape-shift down to Pearl's size. It was too easy to get carried away, too tempting to get completely lost in one another. Blue Diamond's ingenuity came at a risk, which they'd both learned the hard way.

They fit together in a divine symmetry. Blue Diamond's gem sat between Pearl's shoulder blades and her knees curled inside the back of Pearl's own. When Blue Diamond rested her head in the cradle of Pearl's neck, cheek laying against her own, Pearl knew that this was what she'd been made for. She had been made for Blue Diamond, but at this moment Pearl felt that perhaps Blue Diamond had been made for her as well.

*****

Blue Diamond replayed the transmission once again. The figure on the screen reversed herself in the blink of an eye, returning to a previous point in time that was now even farther away. Three mismatched eyes stared at her across time and space. Blue Diamond played the message again, hoping this play-through would grant her some understanding. She'd heard the transmission enough that she'd memorized the speech, but the words kept blurring in her mind, lost in the abyss of the patchwork fusion.

The fusion's existence had been a crime against Gemkind. Blue Diamond still felt disgusted thinking about it. She never should have entrusted her Sapphire with the likes of that traitorous Ruby. It had been so soon after Rose's defection. In the wake of her abdication, hundreds of Gems followed after her, unwilling to be parted with the one they saw as their rightful Diamond. Even the ones that stayed behind still seemed wistful; a part of them longed still to be reunited with the Gem they'd been made for.

Blue Diamond had struggled for years to understand the occurrence at the Sky Arena. No matter how often she turned the events over in her mind, the pieces remained disparate and jumbled. In the chaos of the rebels' attack, the Ruby had taken the opportunity to leap upon Sapphire, like a beast on prey, and done something unspeakable. She'd taken Sapphire by surprise and forced her to fuse, bringing something into existence that never should have seen the light of day. Yet before she'd had a chance to punish the Ruby for her atrocious crime, Sapphire had fled and dove off the brink, her aggressor still latched on. Blue Diamond had sent search parties after them for months, but they'd never found anything. For a time, Blue Diamond had believed that both of them had perished in parts unknown. But then the fusion resurfaced, aligned with the Crystal Gems. Blue Diamond did not understand then, and she didn't understand now.

To fuse without consent was a crime so great Blue Diamond had never witnessed it before. Fusion was an act of aggression, meant for destroyers. Gems prone to violence like Rubies and Amethysts could handle the toll on their simplistic psyche, but it was irreparably damaging to Gems of a more refined nature.  Blue Diamond remembered what fusion was like. No matter how much she wanted to blot the memory from existence, it kept rising back to haunt her. Fusion was death, plain and simple. She and her sisters had ceased to exist; in that time there was only Seafoam Diamond, and she never wanted transmute herself into that abomination again. Seafoam Diamond existed to destroy.  No matter how often she tried to convince herself that Seafoam alone had committed the unspeakable, Blue Diamond had never convinced herself. Her powers were the crux of Seafoam's action. Without them, Seafoam would have been powerless.

Blue Diamond had spent centuries replaying the event in her mind. There had been an achingly sharp clarity to the world. Sensations rattled in her mind like machine-gun fire, but a singular thought blazed through. The idea had sprung into her mind like points on a map. The connections existed; it was only a matter of following through. Seafoam saw a path to victory. A way to save their race from imminent destruction and end the war for good. And so she charged from start to finish and left her component Gems to suffer the cost.

" _The fate of the war rests on your head, Feller of the first colony_."

Blue Diamond pulled up a hologram of the Earth. The planet and its moon floated before her, small enough to fit between her hands. The Oracle had foreseen the end of the war. Blue Diamond had a sickening feeling that she foresaw it too. She cupped her palms around the display. It flicked once under her interference, but kept moving. The moon continued to rotate around its hidden planet. Blue Diamond could only hope her prediction was wrong.

*****

An urgent chiming rang through the room as a transmission came in from Earth. Blue Pearl was well acquainted with the routine. Her Diamond didn't want her exposed to the horrors of the front. Blue Diamond answered the call and Pearl began to wander off when the Gem on the other line was patched through.

"This is Jasper Facet 4 Cut 3AR reporting to Blue Diamond."

Pearl stopped in her tracks. Chester. The maroon Jasper filled up the screen before them. She looked a bit more tired, but still held the sly, lackadasical demeanor Pearl remembered.

"It's good to see you," Chester beamed.

Blue Pearl could have sworn Chester's eyes had flickered over to her when she said it. She wanted to stay, but Pearl knew better. What happened on Earth wasn't meant for her. Pearl reluctantly headed out of earshot, but quickly waved as she left. Chester's grin split wider right before the screen went out of view.

"It's good to see you well, my Jasper." Blue Diamond told her. "Tell me about what you've seen since we last spoke."

This was the last condition Blue Diamond had placed before allowing Chester passage to Earth. Her reports of the front were skewed, and she knew it. Even the best of Blue Diamond's commanders tried to downplay the rebels' threat. After five hundred years some still dared act as if the war would be finished before the decade. This was Chester's other job. She was to report to Blue Diamond every few years and assess the situation honestly.

"As far as opposition groups, there's not much to report. Sisters of the Sole Moon disbanded and joined the Crystals, but Native Thorns are still holding their own."

"Has your opinion about their capabilities changed?"

"Not really. They're gutsy and strike hard, but their leadership's a wreck and they can't plan worth a grain. Their talk about carving out a little Quartz kingdom on Earth draws deserters from our ranks, but no one with experience."

"You still believe the Nacrene Front is most dangerous of the splinter groups?"

Chester began to squirm, as she always did when the subject was broached. Blue Diamond wasn't any more comfortable than Chester. No one else had been willing to tell her the extent of the Pearls' capabilities. There were little groups, she'd been told, of runaway Pearls who'd flocked together. They were flighty, frail things who were rarely seen and only struck as sneak attacks against lone Gems. Nothing approaching the threat of Pink's Pearl. That's what Blue Diamond had been assured. Chester had painted a different picture. The Nacrene Front was a relatively small group that avoided direct conflict. That was true. They were also exceptionally dangerous, highly trained Gems who were known to slice off their own hands rather than be caught. So far, not a single Pearl who fought on the front had been captured alive. According to Chester's reports, they bubbled explosives in their gem. If any of them were ever caught or killed, the explosives would be released, obliterating everyone within fifty yards.

"They can't summon weapons and a Pearl isn't physically strong. That's about it for weaknesses. They're faster than fission and can use their powers to make copies of themselves. Fighting a Pearl one-on-one is hard enough without their damn holograms added to the mix."

"Do you expect me to believe that mere holograms can best Quartz soldiers?"

"If this sounds like a load of pig ore then I'm sorry, my Diamond, but a hologram stabs just as hard as the real thing. Same with their weapons. Our Gems laugh it off and act like they're waving sticks around, but a forged sword cuts as well as a summoned one. It's not just the Nacrene Front either. Pearls in the Crystal Gems do it too. Their ability to store things in their gems means they're walking arsenals and have access to a wider range of weapons than we do. We don't know what to expect. Which leads to our other big problem."

"Go on."

"There's more and more Crystals practicing cross-gem fusion. From what I heard, it used to be pretty rare when the war started. Now it's their main ploy and it still beats us every time. When we face an cross-gem fusion, we don't know what to expect. You can train to face Topaz or Amethyst. But these things? They're unpredictable. We don't know their strengths or weaknesses, or even their powers until they're on top of us. Our only advantage is sheer numbers, and we're starting to lose that."

Blue Diamond almost wished Chester wasn't so clever for a Jasper. She'd pointed out the meteor in the room: the sheer bulk of fatalities was becoming concerning. Homeworld could no longer throw as many new Gems into the fray. The Crystal Gems' numbers had stabilized around a couple thousand, but their fatality rate remained low. Rose's powers assured that. Blue Diamond wished the same could be said for their own army.

"My Diamond, can I offer my opinion?"

"You may."

"I think we should take a closer look at this fusion thing. The Crystals are clearly onto something, and we could finally use their own game against them."

"Cross-gem fusion is not a _game_ , Jasper. It's been banned for a reason. You've seen first-hand the kind of monsters that result. Stay the course."

"As you wish, my Diamond. Thank you for your time."

The transmission ended and Blue Diamond stared at her reflection in the blank screen. Something had to be done. They'd made no progress in over five hundred years. Something had to change, and it had to change soon.


	11. Chapter 11

It was quiet in Yellow Diamond's war room. Blue Diamond had never visited this place without a frenzied rush of Gems underfoot. Peridots frantically typing on massive screens, Zircons snapping orders as they dashed  helter-skelter , or Topazes clustered around tables with holographic maps of the terrain. They'd all been ushered out for this meeting. The lights had been shuttered, but maps of Earth still burned fluorescent neon in the background. The garish monitors wrapped the circular room in a band of light. Yellow Diamond loomed black against the screens, a  dark  silhouette towering over her domain. She paced casually, the click of her heels echoing through the darkened chamber. White Diamond was seated to Blue's left, tapping out a rhythmic pattern. Her eyes were locked on the nondescript black box in the center of the table at which they sat. Yellow stopped pacing and remained with her back to both of them.

"I've called you two here because the time has come to address the unthinkable. We need to discuss our options if the Earth cannot be reclaimed as a colony."

White abruptly stopped tapping. Yellow turned around and took her seat with them, fingers interlacing as she rested her thumbs on her chin. The profound silence was only cut by a muted scuffling from the box.

"This is not admission of defeat. Instead, I believe it's time to review how else our planet may be most efficiently utilized. Which brings us to this."

Yellow motioned to her concealed prize.

"If the war has done anything, it's proven that we need to expand our horizons. The Earth-bound anarchists have advanced their tactics and it's time for us to follow suit. Will you do the honors, White?"

With a snap of White Diamond's fingers the box turned clear and revealed its contents. It took Blue Diamond a moment to comprehend what she was looking at. The creature inside scuttled wildly around its tiny prison as it was exposed to the light. It did not have a head. On closer inspection, it had no legs either. Five lopsided arms joined to a central trunk, with something jagged glinting in its back.

"Cross-gem fusion results in monsters. This is a fact. Until now we've rejected anything to do with such abominations, but their power is undeniable. I believe it's time we capitalize on the rebels' discovery. Here is my proposal: We begin research and development on a Geo-weapon unlike anything before. It will be an artificial fusion composed of Gem shards, the size of a planet and driven to obliterate any Gems who cross its path. It will be the ultimate weapon. "

Blue Diamond stared at the creature. The thing scraped its malformed fingers dully against the glass. There it was, staring her in the face. Over five hundred years of brutal war had finally arrived at this. It was an unwritten rule of the universe. Action and reaction, cause and effect. The length of a war positively correlated to the scale of atrocities committed. Blue Diamond was used to the horrors that came with conflict. She'd seen more than enough in her formative years. Death didn't bother her, but wastefulness and unnecessary suffering did. Whatever Yellow was planning, Blue wanted to make sure she had calculated exactly what kind of toll it would take.

"How many Gems would need to be sacrificed to create such a thing?"

"Accounting for both the research and the final product, the estimate is around three million total shards."

"Yellow, think of the scale!" Blue protested. "We have just enough shards to keep our armories stocked. To siphon enough for this project would require an astronomical sacrifice. How many Gems would have to be destroyed to create this?"

"And how many loyal Gems have died defending their empire?" Yellow countered. "How many hundreds of thousands have we lost in the course of this war? Once it forms, there will be no more civil wars. We have the opportunity to create a weapon of unparalleled power. We need to seize it."

White Diamond ignored them both and lifted the glass box above her head, turning it slowly. The mutant inside twisted and fell as White Diamond kept rotating its tiny prison.

"You say you're not admitting defeat, but that exactly what I'm hearing. This beast of yours can only exist if our colony cannot be reclaimed. I know you, Yellow, and you know your calculations. You'd never make such an investment if you seriously thought it would be wasted. You don't think we can win this war."

Yellow Diamond snatched her trophy out of White's hands. From across the table, Blue Diamond still saw her reflection in the glass.  

"As you've so succinctly explained, I know my calculations. At some point, the value of the Earth becomes overshadowed by the crippling losses we've incurred and that point is nearing the horizon. It's better to walk away with something than with nothing."

"And you two call me delusional," White sneered as she stood up. "I've been saying for years that we've been going soft on these anarchists. No more. It's time to show them what a Diamond can do and win this war. It's time to bring back the Final Strike."

The box slipped from Yellow's hand and clattered to the floor. White Diamond crushed it under her boot as she sauntered to the screens . She brushed her hands across the map, running through land and sea. She stopped at the Galaxy Citadel, the tiny, illuminated dot trapped between the darkened pillars of her fingers.

"Once we turn off the Galaxy Warp, they'll have nowhere to run or hide. We'll blast the light clean out of their gems."

A crunching noise echoed through the room as Yellow Diamond took a step onto the remains of her caged monster. Only a scattering of glass remained, indistinguishable from the fragments of broken gem. She gingerly lifted her boot and moved to the side, slightly away from White. Blue stared as her sisters stood in silhouette against the planet they owned. She felt as though she was watching proceedings from up high. Blue Diamond could see herself, still seated. Yellow was beside the table, staring at White who was still entranced by the screen. The shapes of her sisters had turn ed unfamiliar from above. 

"We can't," Blue hissed. White remained unmoved.

"We can and we should. It will preserve the structure of the colony while wiping out every particle of traitorous gangues."

"You're ignoring the other function of this cluster project," Yellow argued. "Humans are the first sentient species we've encountered, but they won't be the last. The farther our empire expands, the greater our chances of meeting beings who could pose a threat. The Final Strike was targeted to Gem frequency; it'll be worthless on organics. This Geo-weapon can strike anything that crosses its path, Gem or otherwise. I admit it will take a long time, but consider it an investment in our future."

"It's a reckless gamble that does nothing to help us now!" White snarled.

"Blue, you know better than this. Please talk some-"

"If you dare say 'talk some sense into me,' I swear by every single star under our sky I will-"

"ENOUGH!" Blue bellowed. The Oracle had been telling the truth after all. Her instinct and better judgement raged against it. There were a hundred reasons Yellow should desist from this abomination and for  once in a blue moon White would stand behind her.

The war had descended into a black hole of Gem destruction with no end in sight. Their course was going to change today and the choice rested on her shoulders. This Cluster was an abomination whose efficacy hinged on too many 'ifs.' The Final Strike, would-be destroyer of Gemkind, was not a weapon that should ever exist again. There were ghosts in this room hanging over Yellow and White, just as surely as they hung unseen around herself. Both plans were well-worn by the tracks of their predecessors and Blue Diamond didn't want to go down any path they'd tread. Yet what they wanted often had little overlap with necessity. There was no clean road, only the one less traveled . Blue Diamond made a silent plea to the Oracle, wherever she was, to keep her journey illuminated. 

"I say we go forward with Yellow's plan. We can always abort this project if we regain control of the colony, correct?"

"Of course. This would merely be a back-up. If we find another viable planet, it could be relocated there at a later date."

Blue nodded. The Oracle thought this monstrosity should come into existence. If it meant the Final Strike never saw the light of day, then Blue Diamond would choose the lesser of two evils. Sometimes that was the only choice to be made.  

*****

"No, no no! Stop, just...stop."

Blue Pearl rubbed her aching cheek where Yellow had collided with her yet again . In theory, they were practicing their dances for the ceremony. In reality, White had spent the last hour and a half watching Yellow stumble over herself and turning Blue into an accidental training dummy. Blue breathed a quiet sigh of relief at White's interruption. Her poor toes couldn't handle much more squashing. 

"Blue, Yellow, it's time for a break. Come here."

Yellow Pearl slunk forward. Embarrassment was new for her, and Blue could tell she was resisting the urge to lash out at White's criticism. For her part, Blue was just as impressed with White. When Blue had been placed under White Pearl's tutelage, she had been just as obsessive and terrifying as her Diamond. The fact that White hadn't yet broken down and verbally assaulted Yellow for her parade of incompetence was a testament to her restraint. Blue and Yellow waited in tense silence as White racked her brain for a polite way to characterize the flaming shipwreck that constituted their dance. 

"Well..." White offered, " You were... certainly making an effort."

"It was atrocious," Yellow exclaimed. Blue nodded and pointed to a bruise on her chest where Yellow had kicked her while trying to pirouette. If White Pearl was crying on the inside, she didn't show it. Instead, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and walked off a few paces. 

"Blue, Yellow, it's time for you two to come clean. I know you've been hiding something from me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Yellow snapped.

"I know you both have a secret you're hiding. A secret involving you and your Diamonds."

The world had stopped. So White did know about their affairs. But why bring it up now? Blackmail? To make Yellow and Blue dance as if their lives really did depend on it? Blue Pearl struggled to clear the terror threatening to paralyze her. Deny it. She should deny everything and turn the situation around on White. White had the wrong idea and that was on her. Or she could play dumb and pretend she didn't even know what White was implying. That's what a 'good' Pearl would do, and White thought she was slow anyway. But what about Yellow ? She was just as panicked, and even worse, Blue could tell she was on the verge of saying something stupid.

"It was all her idea!" Yellow Pearl blurted. White spun to face her and nodded in enthusiasm.

"Of course it was! Even the famously obdurate Yellow Diamond can be moved after all. I knew she had an appreciation for the arts somewhere." 

"Yes! She- What?"

"I know that the two of you must  secretly perform for your Diamonds. It's simply in our nature as Pearls, and the Diamonds are the most elegant, most refined Gems of all. It's in their nature to desire beauty."

The world was moving again and Pearl's insides somersaulted in the familiar sensation of falling. Yellow gaped dumbly from Blue to White as the latter carried on, oblivious to the revelation Yellow had nearly provided.

"You see, I've come to realize my error. I could never be the one to truly inspire you. A Pearl's first calling is devotion to her mistress. I might be able to lay a foundation, but only your Diamond can bring out your inner light. She's your muse, and without her beside you, you feel helpless! It's understandable, truly it is. But Blue, Yellow, you need to believe me. You can channel that energy even when you're alone! "

Blue's spirit had returned to her body and she might have throttled Yellow if White hadn't waltzed over to them with her large, inky pupils shimmering in excitement.

"Believe in me, Yellow, and believe in yourself! Close your eyes, think of your Diamond, and let your creative light shine!" 

Yellow held the appearance of a Gem who'd just had her innermost secrets publicly broadcasted during a trial. She'd backed herself into a corner and knew it. She screwed her eyes shut, opened her mouth, and wheezed out the most atrocious excuse for a song any of them had ever heard. Blue dipped her head down to hide the grin creeping across her face. White was forcefully holding her smile, but the light had drained from her eyes.

"Well...I suppose one might say-"

"It was terrible. Just admit it."

"Terrible is not the word I would use, but perhaps-"

"I can't sing, White! That's not what I was made to do ! I can't....do any of these fancy things! I don't understand them!"

"Well now, don't fret. We still have lots of time to practice. You two will gain your footing eventually."

White smiled again, but she was clearly disheartened. Blue felt bad for her. She appreciated White's attempts at reconciliation and inclusion, but this was beyond what they could do. With any luck, White Diamond would realize her mistake and have them both excluded from the whole thing. White remained behind while Blue and Yellow made their way to the exit. The room was bigger than Pearl thought; the door kept getting farther away.

"White was right, you know. About my Diamond. It was her idea that I perform in this ceremony, is what I meant to say," Yellow whispered to Blue as she walked beside her. Blue nodded curtly and walked faster. Yellow kept pace and continued undeterred.

"I was angry about the dance. That's why I was upset. "

"M-hm."

"I just don't want you to get the wrong idea, is all."

Blue stopped and stared down her unwitting co-conspirator.

"Yellow?" 

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

*****

Something was wrong with White Pearl. She was distracted. Blue had been witness enough to know as long as her Diamond was around, White Pearl remained the picture of serene grace. White Diamond could rage and quake all she wanted, but White Pearl wouldn't bat an eye. Something was testing her composure. White Diamond had come to visit Blue in her quarters for a few trivial matters relating to the front. Blue and White Pearl stood at attention a distance from their Diamonds, still in their line of sight but far enough that their conversation wasn't overheard. Blue stole a glance to White Pearl. There, again, was the unmistakable twitch of her brows. Whatever was bothering White had to be of a greater concern than her Diamond's temper. Blue Pearl wasn't eager to find out what that could be.

Blue Diamond knew White had taken offense after she'd sided with Yellow's project. She'd extended the offer for a 'chat' as a flimsy excuse to repair their fraying relationship, and White had been surprisingly amenable. They'd said nothing of their meeting and kept to safe topics. The sorry state of their ground troops had become a common refrain. Morale was low and desertion creeping up.

"Nothing the Agates do stems the tide," Blue lamented. It was a common complaint, one they'd all made countless times. To her surprise, White smiled thinly at this.

"I was hoping you'd bring it up. One of my Gems has tried a new technique and the desertion has stopped."

"Please, do tell," Blue coaxed.

"Pearl," White Diamond beckoned, "Bring me the scroll."

The iridescent form of White Pearl darted to her mistress, bowed respectfully, then removed a rolled up parchment from her gem and departed again. The object was tiny in White Diamond's hands, barely the length of her finger. Blue took it as it was offered. Parchment was a rare thing to see, used for artistic purposes in a small niche of Gem culture. Blue unfurled it and recoiled .

"I won't deny the grotesque nature of the thing, but it's undeniably effective," White Diamond began. "An Agate from Sector One started it. Now they all do. If you want obedience in such trying times, this is the way to do it. Post one in their barracks and no one else will dare risk becoming another."

Blue Diamond rolled the image up once more and haphazardly slid it onto her nearby curio display. 

"I'll keep it in mind," Blue Diamond muttered, but White's palpable disappointment made it clear she knew Blue had no such intention. She excused herself not long after, and Blue Diamond was left to her affairs.

***** 

A dull roaring echoed in Pearl's head, like the cascade of a waterfall from a great distance. Blue Diamond was working at one of her screens, but Pearl was distracted by something else. The canvas White Pearl had brought lay at the foot of Blue Diamond's curio display. It rolled off the shelf at some point and had fallen to the floor. Blue traced the ridges of her knuckles with her thumb. Ever since it fell, the sound in Pearl's head had gotten louder and more defined. She was shocked Blue Diamond couldn't hear it. 

Pearl could tell something important had occurred during the Diamonds' last meeting. Her mistress had been distracted and short-tempered ever since. She needed space, and Pearl respected that. She was working on something private and all Pearl could see was the cloud of exhaustion that loomed over her. Blue Diamond had enough on her mind. She didn't need to be bothered for petty matters. The hissing had become a roar of white noise. If Blue Diamond hadn't heard it by now, she would soon. Pearl went over to put the artifact back where it belonged.

The canvas had partially unrolled on the floor. Blue could see something painted inside. She had intended to place it back on the shelf, but in the blink of an eye it was unfurled in her hands and Pearl could see everything. It was a picture of an Amethyst from the waist up. The depiction was crude, clearly made by a Gem who possessed no skills in illustration. She was drawn staring upward, mouth agape, with one misshapen hand reaching above her. The word 'TRAITOR' had been scrawled in big letters across the top. Pearl's skin crawled as she stared at it. The canvas felt familiar, somehow. Something about it brought back a half-remembered sensation as Blue Pearl tried to recall why it made her so uneasy.

Pearl's mouth went dry.

It smelled chalky. 

The single eye of the Amethyst turned to stare back. The white noise turned into an angry whisper. The canvas was snatched out of her trembling hands. Blue Diamond crushed the thing in her fist and it began to scream. In a flash of her gem the canvas was encased in ice and the screaming abruptly stopped. With her free hand, Blue Diamond lightly touched Pearl on the shoulder. Her body wouldn't stop shaking.

"It was still alive," Pearl whispered.

"I know."

Later, after the thing had been properly destroyed and Pearl's nerves had calmed she was able to reflect. She tapped her fingers against her thigh to calm herself. It had been a long time since she'd fallen to her nervous habits. She'd heard a voice through the static. Too faint to understand, but still there. White had kept it inside her gem for hours. Blue Pearl wondered what an artifact of that magnitude could do in such an intimate sanctum. She had some ideas, but didn't want to dwell on them for too long. Pearl hummed intermittently to herself, but the screaming remained in her mind. She'd finally found something worse than White Diamond's tempe r.


	12. Chapter 12

A Mass Harvesting Event. That's what they called it. The phrase kept popping up in big, blaring letters as Blue Diamond stabbed a finger across a display screen. Pearl didn't understand what had happened in the Beta kindergarten, and neither did Blue Diamond. A Mass Harvesting Event. Five hundred and sixty-five Gems had emerged, and five hundred and twenty-four Gems had been processed. Blue Diamond jabbed at her screen again, bringing up a new report. Then another, then another. From her spot below, words and phrases caught Pearl's eye as they rushed past.

_Inadequate resource management_

_Insufficient minerological nutrient deposits_

_Lack of technician allocation_

_Reutilization by means of arms deployment_

Her mistress paused at this last report. Her hand dropped to her side as pictures of tanks and empty suits of armor dotted the screen. Pearl should not have seen this. Gems fresh out of the ground, sent back to oblivion. A yellow triangle blazed to life on-screen and swallowed the images below. Blue Diamond weakly tapped it to patch Yellow through.

"Can you believe this incompetence? " Yellow Diamond roared.

"No, I can't," Blue Diamond whispered. Pearl darted behind a nearby vase. She hadn't meant to look. Yellow Diamond's fury echoed through the room, broadcasting her voice loud and clear.

"An entire Kindergarten's worth of Gems sent to harvest. It's unprecedented. The only salvageable part of this atrocious debacle is that it pushes our project two years ahead of collection schedule."

" _Our_ project? This is yours, Yellow. Don't bring me into it."

" _You_ were the tie-breaker. _You_ chose this over the Final Strike. It's as much yours as it is mine now. We have to accept responsibility for what we've done."

Blue Pearl pressed her clammy hands into her thighs. She didn't belong here. It was impossible from her spot to look at the screen without revealing herself, so Pearl could only listen. Yellow's voice had gone softer.

"This isn't the outcome I desired, Blue. A fresh batch of soldiers would be far superior to shardstock, but as you say, 'what's done is done.' Their sacrifice serves a greater purpose and we have no right to turn up our noses at such a gift."

"You're not talking about Beta anymore, are you?"

"I know you've been dwelling on the first colony again, Blue."

Blue Pearl dug her fingers into her sides without noticing. She'd heard of that place before. A ghostly chorus rose unbidden in her mind.

"Do you blame me?"

"No. We all have to carry that burden." Yellow Diamond was quiet for a minute before continuing. "Blue, do you remember what I told you after your encounter with the Oracle? There's a difference between responsibility and fault. The Beta Kindergarten was my responsibility, but its failure is my fault too. I had the chance to oversee production directly, but left it in the hands of incapable Gems. That was a choice. We had no such freedom with the colony. It was our responsibility, but the fault was on those who forced our hand. You are not to blame. We've always done what's best in the long run. You need to remember that, Blue." 

After all was said and done, Blue Diamond curled up with Pearl in the confines of the palanquin. She'd draped a heavy brocade fabric around it, blotting out the hostile world. Pearl lay in the nest of Blue Diamond's lap and let her run large fingers through her hair. The familiar feeling brought no comfort to Pearl, who watched her mistress staring blankly ahead, mind far away in a place Pearl couldn't reach. Blue Diamond's gem dimly lit the inside, revealing the curling, interlooping pattern on the indigo and grey fabric surrounding them through the palanquin's hollow walls. Something had changed after Blue Diamond's last meeting. The Diamonds made a plan which her mistress didn't like. The plan was linked to the aftermath of Beta, which in turn was connected to the 'first colony,' whatever that was. Pearl knew nothing further.

Blue Diamond rested her hand on Pearl's forehead and Pearl leaned up to kiss her thumb in response. It failed it elicit a reaction. Her body ached with helplessness. None of her dances or songs cut through her Diamond's melancholy. She wished there was something she could do, some words she could offer, or some insight she could provide. Throughout the course of the war, Blue Diamond had always sheltered Pearl from the collateral damage. For the first time, Pearl felt like she needed to be the one to protect her mistress. She just didn't know what she needed protection from.

*****

Blue Diamond was proud of her Jasper. In little over a century she'd risen to the rank of Major and gained the admiration of her peers. More importantly, Blue Diamond knew this was a Gem she could trust. Chester continued to give personal updates every year or so, and it offered Blue Diamond a better, fuller picture of the civil war at large. Blue Diamond didn't always like what she heard, but she respected Chester for her continued honesty. Her recommendations had led to improvements in the chain of command, and morale of her troops exceeded those of her sisters.

The events of Beta and the call it entailed still trailed after Blue Diamond, and Chester's call wasn't helping. The Diamonds had forbidden the possession and creation of trophies and ordered that any such artifacts created from Gems killed in battle had to be surrendered. Mostly it was a way to gather additional shards for the fusion project, but as Chester detailed, trophy culture had begun to creep among the higher ranks of Gems. It wasn't unheard of for Agates to wear rings or necklaces, and even common soldiers might possess a pillow or mirror imbued with a shard from a noteworthy foe. White Diamond might encourage corpse desecration, but Yellow and Blue wanted to nip such behavior in the bud.

"Some Gems aren't happy about it, but most I meet are pretty relieved," Chester detailed. "Off the record, I heard a lot of White Diamond's troops started 'disappearing' on the battlefield once they started hanging up posters. If you think your stone is gonna wind up in a sword pommel for making a mistake, some Gems decide it's not worth the risk coming back. Letting your Agate beat the silt outta you like old times is a better deal."

"So you feel the decree is settling tensions?"

"Well...about that. It's not my job to ask questions, but we all know something's going on. It's not just the trophies. We can't keep bubbled POWS anymore either, and dissidents aren't getting publicly executed. Shards are getting sucked up, but they're not going back to the Harvesters. They're just...disappearing. Whatever it is, it's confidential, right?"

Blue Diamond nodded.

"Civilians approach us more too," Chester added. "They're always asking if we hear anything from Home. A lot of these Gems haven't heard anything but rumors since lock-down. Six hundred years is a long time to be in the dark, but we don't have anything to offer. We want to give 'em good news, but...it's been a cycle for a long time now."

There was nothing Blue Diamond could offer in consolation. No assurances of a swift victory, or details of new plan, or even hope that her role would be complete before the millennia closed. They'd chosen a plan hinged on failure. Their first serious conflict as an empire, and this was how they handled it. Of course it was a civil war, just like they'd always said. Wouldn't they just love to see the utter mess Earth had turned out to be. Chester coughed to bring Blue Diamond back to the present. 

"My Diamond, permission to be frank?"

"Granted, but mind yourself."

"We're being held back. The Crystals equip everyone for a fight and promote Gems who are competent, not just ones made for the job. I know they say you can't cast a hammer from a sword's mold, but if the mold isn't working, it might be time to recast. We have a lot of great Gems down here willing to fight for their home, but some of 'em are stuck on a permanent back-burner. We want to win just as badly as you, but we're not fighting at our full potential. That's not even touching on the fusion issue again. My Diamond, it's been over half a millennium and we've made no progress. You really need to consider a bit of lenience or else we're just going to stay in this stalemate."

"You may not understand, but we cannot afford to be lax, especially not now. Stay the course."

"My Diamond, with all due respect, you keep-"

"Jasper, I have told you my decision. Your duty is to obey, do you understand?"

"Yes, Blue Diamond."

She could tell Chester was unhappy. The Jasper had always pushed boundaries, even as a guard. Now that she was immersed in propaganda and far from home, Blue Diamond feared Chester was the kind of Gem who was just clever enough to be at risk of Rose's doctrine. Her calls often included pleas for more lenience, which Blue Diamond rejected more often than not. She had told Chester there would be no return until the war was over, but Blue Diamond had debated recalling her ex-guard for a few years now. Rebelliousness was a slippery slope to oblivion and it was better to regain a guard than lose a good Gem entirely. She'd have to keep a closer eye on this one.

*****

"Psst. Pearl. Hey Pearl. Come over here. Pearl."

They'd been calling to her for a few minutes, but Blue Pearl hadn't paid them any heed. That didn't stop the two Jaspers from whispering loudly to her from their post a few feet away. It was another short meeting with some tactician or other, and Pearl remained in the palanquin while the guards at the doorway continued to beckon and call her. Blue Pearl didn't know what the Jaspers were after and she had no intention of finding out.

"Pearl. We want to ask you something. Come here. Pearl. Pearl. Hey Pearl."

Blue Pearl had become much more comfortable speaking over the past centuries, but right now she almost wished she really was mute. It was sorely temping to yell at them to shut up. But as far as they knew, she couldn't talk and that made life easier. One of the pair elbowed the other and nodded to the far side of the room. A distance off, two more guards lingered at their posts. Blue Pearl quickly guessed what was going to happen next. Making sure they were unobserved, the pair cautiously skittered over to the Palanquin, stopping a respectful distance away. It was two of the newer guards, an Ocean and Lilac Jasper. She supposed there was no avoiding it. Pearl crinkled her nose in distaste and stepped down from the palanquin. The Lilac Jasper wasted no time.

 "We heard you swore in the face of The Imperial when she took Chester away. That true?"

"I heard you cussed every one of 'em out and gave 'em the nugget to boot," the other added, demonstrating the offensive gesture for good measure.

"Would you do it for us? We wanna hear it."

Pearl gaped. It had been over a hundred years since she'd dropped that particular bomb in front of Chester's platoon. Chester had sworn all the Gems involved to secrecy. How did they know? How much did they know? The pair giggled between each other as they stared Blue Pearl down. She didn't know what to do. If she just went back to the palanquin, they might tell everyone what she said. A massive shadow fell over Blue Pearl and the Jaspers' grins turned to terror. Pearl whipped around to find One Eye looming over them.

"What are you half-wits doing away from your posts?" She snarled at her co-guards. The pair trembled under her glower, looking more like flighty little Jades than elite Jaspers. Blue Pearl didn't blame them. In Chester's absence One Eye had become even more ferocious and sullen. Even the other guards shunned her. While she'd never repeated the incident that occurred outside Blue Diamond's chambers, the ornery Jasper wasn't above glaring at Pearl from across a room.

"We, uh, we heard this rumor—"

"—on good authority!—"

"—that Chester got her to start swearing, so—"

"—we wanted if it was true."

One Eye continued to stare down her fellow guards as they deflated under her scrutiny.

"So let me get this straight. You not only believe that Chester got a mute Pearl to talk, she got her to start cursing too? How gullible are you? If I told you I knew a Jasper with her gem wedged between her asscheeks, would you believe that too?"

"Well, actually..." Ocean timidly began.

"Get back to your posts!" One Eye roared. The pair scrambled away, tripping over each other in a dash back to the door. Blue Pearl mounted the steps to the palanquin, once again feeling like a co-conspirator in the whole mess. She turned back to One Eye and murmured a "thank you."

"I didn't do it for you. Your gem isn't on the line if Blue Diamond learns what you said."

Blue blushed. She still couldn't believe she'd cursed in front of a group of strange Jaspers. Looking back, it was such a silly, spur-of-the-moment decision. But Chester wanted it so badly, and Pearl wanted to offer some consolation. Chester had reached out to Blue when no one besides her Diamond bothered. Blue suspected she'd done the same for One Eye. None of the other guards wanted to be around her and unlike Blue, she didn't have a Diamond's company to fall back on. Without Chester, she was completely alone.

"I saw her," Pearl stated. "When she called Blue Diamond yesterday. She's doing well. She's a Major now."

One Eye rippled and suddenly there was a Gem like herself standing before Blue Pearl, someone filled with hopes and fears and longing and caution. Just as quickly the moment passed and the vicious, stony guard reclaimed her place. One Eye craned her neck towards the trouble-making pair and only kept her Gemstone visible in profile.

"Major Chester, huh? If she puts off promotions to keep that stupid title, then I'm personally walking the three million lightyears down to Earth to grind her grit."

Blue Pearl smiled and One Eye marched off. She'd finally caught a glimpse of what Chester saw in her old friend.

*****

The life of a Diamond was a busy one and didn't revolve around the whims of others. In theory, all three Pearls would meet, practice, and depart at the exact same time. In reality, the Diamonds' schedules were so erratic that it usually involved someone being dropped off and biding her time for the others. Today White Pearl was running around with her Diamond on an errand while Yellow and Blue waited. It didn't feel right to rehearse without White's supervision, so they stood listlessly and gawked around the empty room. The awkward silence between the two yawned like a chasm.

"Did you hear about the fiasco at the Beta Kindergarten?" Yellow asked once her boredom overcame her dislike of speaking to Blue. Blue Pearl nodded once, but kept her sight on the ornately carved door.

"It was criminal what those Peridots did. Centuries of my Diamond's work wasted! She was livid, as she ought to be. She only got a single good Jasper from the whole batch. My Diamond processed most of them and threw in the Peridots for good measure."

"Terrible," Blue murmured. Yellow nodded enthusiastically.

"Yellow? Does it...bother Yellow Diamond when she...Does the war bother her?"

By the Yellow's reaction Blue may as well have asked what White Diamond thought of hyperspace physics. Blue Pearl had almost forgotten that Yellow had been made during the later years of the rebellion. She possessed no reference for what her mistress was like outside of conflict. By Blue's reckoning, it didn't seem much different. But then, her own Diamond put on a confident face in public too. Yellow must have been thinking the same thing, because her incredulousness morphed into contemplation.

"Of course it's stressful. Yellow Diamond _does_ command most of the forces down there. You couldn't even imagine how busy she is. But 'bothered' isn't how I'd describe it. She _is_ a natural-made leader after all, so she's designed to handle the stress. That's just how a Diamond is, and someone has to do it."

Blue Pearl nodded once and returned to her sentinel duty with a heavy heart. It felt like ages before White Pearl arrived, but once she did their practice commenced. Yellow had become modestly decent since her lessons started, but she still lagged far behind Blue and White. The portion they were rehearsing today was the most challenging, requiring intricate motions in perfect choreography. Blue struggled to keep pace with White while Yellow completely fell behind. The climax of the scene hit and White propelled herself into the air, spinning wildly as she fell. Blue mirrored as best she could but knew her form was out of sync. Yellow made a daring leap, twisted a few times, and fell in graceless heap on the floor. She scurried quickly to right herself but White descended on her.

"Yellow, the ceremony is only decades away! You need to be in optimal condition by that time. Every Gem of rank is going to be attending, and you will be on-stage, representing your Diamond. Perfection. Is. Key."

"This isn't my fault!" Yellow exploded. "I told you I couldn't do it and you dragged me in anyway! I've said it hundreds of times, White. I don't perform!"

"You're a Pearl!" White countered. "It's in your nature to do this! Why do _you_ have to make it so difficult?"

Yellow didn't have a good answer for that. Her face burned amber in humiliation and stalked off to continue practicing alone. Blue had very much enjoyed watching Yellow get her comeuppance the first couple dozen times. Now it was just painful.  White did have a point: their window to perfect their dance was rapidly closing. Blue didn't know what would happen if Yellow couldn't make the grade. Every part of the ceremony was interlinked. Someone would have to take Yellow's role, and if not the Pearl belonging to Yellow Diamond herself, then who? They continued working, but the atmosphere stayed sour.

White excused herself first, because her Diamond needed her elsewhere, leaving Blue and Yellow alone again. The tension between the two wasn't any more comfortable the second time around. Yellow slunk over to Blue, still brooding over her mishap. Yellow had many skills, but neither performing nor subtlety were among them. There was something she wanted to say, and Blue had no choice but to hear her out.

"Blue, how did White teach _you_ to dance?"

Blue dug her hands into her palms. Intimidation. Humiliation. Instilling a fear in her that survival depended on her ability to be perfect the first time, every time, and never to make mistakes. Enough to instill a deep anxiety that still refused to completely leave and to make White's current treatment look like tender hand-holding in comparison.

"How do you think?" Blue grumbled, more bitter than she intended.

 "I...I want you to teach me!" Blue stared and Yellow continued undeterred. "White...it's like she doesn't even need to learn, she just does everything right the first time. I respect her for it, but then she has the gall to think every Pearl's like her. And when you're not, it leaves you feeling like...like..."

"Like you're stupid," Blue answered dryly. A light clicked in Yellow's head. She nodded in understanding. Blue Pearl was exhausted enough practicing for the ceremony and trying to help her Diamond. She didn't need something else sucking up what energy she had left, especially when that 'something else' was Yellow Pearl. If she was smart, she'd leave the instruction to White. Blue groaned and ran a hand through her hair.

"Reign in your motions. You swing too wide and then try to correct."

Blue pirouetted slowly to demonstrate, mirroring Yellow's actions the first time and a normal spin the second. Yellow watched carefully, then tried to copy Blue. Blue nodded and did it again. Yellow followed and her spin was tighter this time around.

"Good. Now, your plie..."

*****

It was just Blue and White today. Yellow Diamond and Pearl had another engagement. The unfortunate truth was that Yellow did hold them both back. Without her, Blue followed White as she dipped, twirled, and poised with ease. Music bounced through the hollow room as White moved in perfect synchronicity. Blue's attention kept getting pulled to the illusion around them. The slate-grey floor had been swallowed under White's hologram. At their feet was a gleaming representation of the stage while starlight-cloaked figures danced around them. Blue moved in time to the recorded orchestra and allowed herself to drift.

The war was exhausting. That wasn't new. But something from Blue Diamond's past had snared her. Her Diamond was trapped in an invisible web and all Pearl saw were gleams of thread. Blue Pearl was powerless to free her and she raged against her own passivity. White twirled past and Blue reflected on the patchwork details of the distant past she'd divulged. If anyone could provide answers, it was White Pearl. The last peals of a bell faded slowly as the music stopped. A ringing stuck in Blue's mind.

"White? Can I...ask you something?"

White nodded as she finished the final steps of her dance. Blue had stopped moving, but White Pearl and the illusions moved on without her, taking a synchronized bow to an invisible audience.

"What's the first colony?"

The stage evaporated in a flash of stardust, leaving Blue and White behind. White stared at her from across the room as flecks of light danced upwards into oblivion.

"Who told you about that?" she whispered.

"The Oracle. She called my Diamond 'The feller of the first colony.' What does that mean?"

White had stopped smiling. Something indeterminable flashed across her eyes. She held her resolve, but something rolled underneath, something Blue had seen frequently in White Diamond before she burst. Blue crossed the empty expanse towards her, soft steps fading out in their vaulted chamber.

"That was not your Diamond's doing, Blue, and it has nothing to do with you either," White protested.

"Tell me, White."

"I can't."

White Pearl turned and marched off, her thick, silver curls bobbing as she shook her head. Blue closed the last few feet between them and snatched White's forearm. She whirled around and yanked hard. Blue dug in her heels and squeezed.

"It's hurting my Diamond. I need to know. White, tell me."

"You won't understand, Blue," White snarled as she focused on tugging and twisting against Blue's hold.

"I don't care!" Blue snapped. "You'd...do anything for White Diamond, wouldn't you?"

The fight drained out of White's body as she went slack in Blue's hand. The two Gems stared each other down. White searched her, but Blue couldn't see anything in White. All she saw was herself, reflected back in White Pearl's glossy, liquid ink pupils. Her doggedness disturbed her, and she recoiled against herself. Blue released her hold and White tucked her arm against her chest. Matte grey marks left imprints of Blue's grip. White massaged the bruise, tracing outlines in her skin where porcelain met ash.

"There'll be no going back, Blue. Are you sure you want to know?"

Blue hesitated. When the war started, all she had desired was a return to the familiar routine of her old life. She'd spent centuries keeping her head down, but if Pearl pursued whatever came next, she was involved of her own volition. She'd be a bystander no more. But her Diamond needed her, it was her responsibility both as a dutiful Pearl and as her Diamond's lover to protect her in whatever capacity she could provide. Even if it meant the loss of her comfort and ignorance.

Blue reflected, briefly, on everything she'd seen and done since the conflict started and the kind of Gem she'd been the first day she'd stepped foot on Earth: the birth of her children, confronting White, witnessing the Scrying, her friendship with Chester, and now demanding to learn a forbidden truth. Blue Pearl had stopped being that passive Gem some time ago without realizing it. For better or worse, she'd changed under her mistress's love and care. Blue Diamond had given Pearl so much. It was time to give back.

"I need to know, White."

White didn't seem surprised, only resigned. A light bloomed from her gem, forming a blank screen five times Blue's height.

"Remember, Blue: what you're about to see never happened. You can never tell anyone what you'll learn, not even your Diamond."

Blue nodded. White walked off until she was standing in front of the doorway, back turned to Blue and the screen. She placed her hands over the sides of her head. The hologram flickered to life and Blue Pearl watched it unfold.

The sound of sirens jolt her. The hologram is muted enough to not be overheard, but still they wail ceaselessly, hundreds of them blasting forth. The perspective spins rapidly and blurs everything. A pair of pale hands clench a railing in front of her. White's hands. She's overlooking the edge of an alien planet. A vast ocean covers this world and strange peaks jut from the sea. Pearl is standing atop a tower , staring at the shore beneath her. Blue's gem flutters as she see the Diamonds below.

Their clothes and hair are different, but it's undeniably them. They run to the edge of the water and yell to each other, their voices lost on the waves. They stop at the shore but keep screaming and pointing fingers all around them. The vision blurs as White whips around to get her bearings. None of this looks familiar to Blue; the land, the architecture, it's all foreign. White Pearl's attention is caught by the structure directly opposite  her far off in the distance.  An octahedral building of fantastic size is abutted by two immense, twisted pillars bridging the land and sky. Colored lights strobe on their chromed surface, all darting towards the glowing peak of the center building. An alien moon looms overhead, positioned snugly between this cradle, the celestial body close enough for Pearl to make out the faint lights of civilization with her bare eyes.

White's attention jerks back to the Diamonds just in time to see a blast of light. Something rises like a new-born star from the impact, growing and expanding up to White's tower. Pearl is face to face with a goddess incarnate. Their eyes lock and Blue is staring across time and space at the face of the legends. This Gem is utterly alien. The goddess's eyes dart past White to the tower behind her, then sprints in the opposite direction across the sea. Waves part for her, then lurch as she draws them into a vortex around her body. The sea churns in orbit around her, a supermassive star drawing everything into its core. The sirens blare louder and White looks behind her to the towers. The top quarter of the octahedron is illuminated and multicolored lights continue their frenetic journey down the pillars toward it.

The vision blurs as White whips back to the ocean. The coast flees from her as the orb of water around the Diamonds' fusion grows exponentially. Far below, Blue Pearl can make out signs of civilization on the newly revealed sea floor. Highways and statues dot the soggy ground, but this is of little interest to White, who looks back and forth at the gathering storm. The sky has darkened and a flurry of water rushes past her, summoned from parts unknown towards an unforeseeable purpose. Another quick check behind her is clouded by the storm, but Blue can make out the glow of the diamond-shaped monolith and moon above, the lights blending together into one giant beacon.

The vision lurches as White stumbles. The storm has grown into a hurricane with White Pearl trapped inside. The Diamonds are lost within their creation, now big enough to swallow half the horizon. Still it grows, and still the deluge around White rages. The ocean is disappearing into this force of nature and Blue Pearl can faintly spot movement down below. There's people down there. Blue's body has turned to ice, trapped along with White Pearl ten thousand years in the past.

White Pearl slips again as the building creaks and tilts. She's entwined her arms around the railing, but her body is being pulled in all directions. The winds and water collide in a furious rage, the sphere is blotting out the sky, and behind it all, the beacon expands. The sirens are nearly drowned out by the maelstrom, but their urgent wailing still cuts through. The light in the sky is growing larger. The orb breaks and becomes a wave big enough to drown a planet. It holds its place like a curtain for the sky before jerking backward. White's platform groans and tips forward. Her body swings around as still she clings to her post. A flash erupts and the world goes white.

The hologram is frozen.

In the split-second before the vision ends, the source of the light burns clear through the storm. From ten thousand years away, the Diamonds' fusion draws a few last beads of water forth. Blue wiped the tears from her stinging eyes. She jolted as a cold hand squeezed her shoulder. Faint spots still pepper her arm. White stood beside her, back to Blue's front. She refused to look.

"White," Blue croaked, "is that..."

"I told you once I saw the end of the world. You thought I was being hyperbolic, didn't you?" 

Blue didn't know. She didn't know anything at all.

"Here's the truth, Blue. A weapon was about to be unleashed that had the potential to destroy all Gemkind at once. We were out of time and the Diamonds were forced to make a rash decision. Everything organic died in the blast. Lots of Gems did as well. The world burned, Blue, and we watched it burn for hundreds of years until nothing remained."

White turned slightly, just enough to catch Blue's eye without looking back.

"We were so proud of it, Blue. Our very first colony, free and independent under Gem rule. It was only a tiny, water-covered thing, but it was close to Home and it was ours! It was where our Diamonds first understood they could be the leaders our people needed. It meant everything to us back then. Do you understand now?"

"No."

"Good. Because none of us did either."

The hologram dissolved but the image had burned itself into Blue Pearl's mind. The gleaming towers in distance about to be swallowed by the falling moon, the lights of a colony still burning brightly on its rippling, aquatic surface.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...And we're back! Thanks to everyone for their patience. Three months is a lot longer than I intended between updates, but it's good to get back to the swing of things! Hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

The fish only raised more questions. Blue Pearl didn't recall her trip from White Diamond's quarters back home. At some point Blue Diamond sat with her and watched the holographic ceiling play familiar images of ocean life. The haze shrouding Blue's mind cleared as the images cycled. What did her Diamond think when she stared at this illusion? Pearl always assumed she missed Earth, but wasn't sure anymore. Recalling what she'd learned left her numb. She felt like she was waiting for the full weight of the situation to hit her, and any moment Blue would be struck down by the knowledge of what her Homeworld had been.

She'd done this for her Diamond. Blue Pearl kept repeating it to herself as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. She'd honestly thought knowing would allow her to help, but that had been folly. What could she ever hope to offer as remedy to something so horrific? Blue imagined herself up on that colony, standing on a boulevard as Homeworld rushed to meet her. She imagined a world on fire, ravaged by the impact of the moon strike. How many Gems had died? What was it like to suffer through the aftereffects?

Pearl wrapped her arms around Blue Diamond's neck and buried her face in the fall of her hair. She started crying again and only hoped it wouldn't be noticed. Pearl wasn't blind. She'd always known Blue Diamond had the same capacity for violence as Yellow and White, but believed she was just and moderate. The First Colony was neither of those things and Blue Pearl could do nothing to avoid that. The Gem she loved had once massacred her own people and destroyed the very fabric of their planet. A large hand stroked her back and Pearl burrowed in farther.

"What's troubling you, my Pearl?"

"I don't want to lose you," Pearl mumbled and clung tighter round her Diamond's neck. She yearned so desperately to keep thinking of Blue Diamond as benevolent but didn't know if that was possible. Blue Diamond kept stroking her back and tilted her head to rest her cheek against Pearl.

"I've been rather distant, haven't I?" Blue Diamond sighed. "Certain... events from the past have been dredged up and I keep turning back to them. I think about the path we're treading and fear that for all the distance traveled we'll discover one day it's been nothing but a circle. I'm doing everything I can to avoid it, but I can't see what lies ahead."

As if animated by their own will, Pearl's finger's walked up her mistress's face and rolled tiny circles in comfort. Blue Diamond mimicked the gesture on Pearl's back and tilted her shoulder up to bring Pearl in closer without rousing her from her hiding spot.

"You keep me grounded, Pearl. I'd lose myself in my own mind if you weren't here."

She'd done it to save her subjects. Blue had to believe that. It was easy to love her Diamond when she did nothing wrong, when she was serene and beautiful and kind. To live by Blue Diamond's side meant Pearl saw it all, the good and the bad, and this was truly the worst. Pearl would have to work on loving Blue Diamond in the face of this. She'd asked for facts and there was no choice but to accept them: Blue Diamond wasn't a goddess; she was a mortal who had no perfect solutions. She was only a Gem, just like Pearl, who'd done something that haunted her to this day. And a very long time ago, Blue Diamond might have belonged to someone, just like Pearl.

*****

"Blue, Yellow, I have exciting news!"

The door to their practice chamber no sooner closed than White Pearl herded them to a semi-circle of giant mirrors erected in the middle of the room.

"As you know, the Ceremony of the Celestial Light is only five years away and you've both advanced markedly. I would've hoped to begin this next stage sooner, but it's been wickedly difficult obtaining the components. If you please, close your eyes and don't open them until I say. Your regalia is finished and I want it to be a surprise."

Yellow shrieked in excitement and bounced from toe to toe. White turned on her in a flash.

"Yellow, we've gone over this. If you're going to be so lascivious, you can't wear it. Show some decorum."

Yellow stopped bouncing and nodded, standing at attention and closing her eyes tightly. A wide smile remained plastered on her face. Blue offered a sympathetic half-smirk to White before closing her eyes too. She'd seen White Pearl's old regalia in years past, but had never worn one herself. The prospect was nerve-wracking and the 'surprise' aspect didn't help. The hum of White Pearl drawing upon her gem filled the room, followed by the clink of metal. Blue listened to the gentle rustling as White worked. She twitched as a cold weight was positioned on her chest. White's nimble hands latched unseen clasps and ornamentation spread. Small prongs poked into her gem, making Blue jolt. White steadied her and readjusted the piece.

"Keep still, it's meant to do that," she murmured. The heaviness extended down her arms and looped through her fingers. Another hum and rustle heralded more weight around her skirt, followed by the press of draped metal encircling her head. White pulled her bangs aside, patted her work a few times, then left. From a few feet away, Blue could hear her begin the same treatment with Yellow. Blue had expected the regalia to be thin and airy, but the heft was substantial. She felt pressed in from all sides and the tiny prongs still poked her gem uncomfortably.

"Open your eyes," White commanded. Blue obeyed.

A rainbow ensnared her. A bodice of fine silver connected to draping, interlinked chains lacing across her skirt and arms. In curling patterns and soft waves, hundreds of brightly polished gemstones glittered. In the center was her own, exposed by an opening in the bodice but touched on four sides by the decorative clasps, lending the appearance she was intimately connected to the ensemble. She had never looked more beautiful or more terrible.

Yellow gasped in excitement and twirled slowly. Her regalia spun with her, the gems sparkling in the light. The design of Yellow's regalia differed from Blue's. Instead of filigrees and lacing chains hers was all sharp angles and points with a headpiece resembling a starburst, much different than her own web-like veil.

"Oh, White, it's stunning," Yellow breathed as she posed again. "Put on yours quick. I want to see what we all look like together."

White's smile faltered.

"I do wish I could, but mine's still being set. I wanted you and Blue to have yours first. I'm used to dancing in regalia besides. Go ahead and practice without me."

Yellow Pearl didn't need more encouragement. She spun off and began her routine, humming a jaunty tune the whole way. White shook her head and smiled again.

"Sometimes I really do worry about her," she told Blue. "What do you think of yours?"

Blue touched a shaky hand to the centerpiece of her decorated veil, a cluster of blue stones in the shape of a diamond.

"It's...heavy," she managed to murmur. She remained trapped in her own reflection. White came up beside her and adjusted a chain.

"I had a few extra pounds added to yours. I knew it was a good idea to save your headpiece for last." White continued fussing and tucked a few stray locks away from Blue Pearl's face.

"I don't understand," Blue told her. White stopped fussing.

"Blue, can you tell me what your centerpiece represents?"

To say 'Blue Diamond' would be too obvious. Blue Pearl stared at the ensemble in the mirror and wracked her brain for insight.

"They're...trillion-cut sapphires....that stands for...for mental clarity. And they're surrounded by round-cut moonstone, which stands for self-discovery. It's...about the colony?" White beamed and started her readjustments in earnest.

"It represents your willingness to understand our past, and acceptance of the toll that entails. Regalia is designed for a purpose, Blue. The whole point of utilizing physical pieces instead of transformation is the weight. Regalia is meant to be a burden, and you have to perform in it and look beautiful while pretending it's not there at all. Once your performance is done, you get to take it off and weight is gone."

Blue could see Yellow Pearl dancing behind her in the mirrors. She spun and twirled in a blaze of color without ever loosing her cheek-splitting grin.

"What does Yellow's weigh?" Blue asked. White chucked softly.

"Practically nothing. She doesn't need any handicaps and she doesn't have any burdens. The rest of us aren't quite so fortunate, are we?"

Blue ran one hand across the top of the other. Locked between the cuff at her wrist and rings on her fingers sat tiny gemstones woven together in an abstract design across the back of her hand. She traced over their polished surfaces. She wondered how many Gems it had taken to make such a thing.

"They've been put to rest, if that's your concern," White told her. "My Diamond takes all the light out of their bodies, so they're just stones now."

Blue hadn't even considered that until White mentioned it, but the idea of a regalia suddenly springing back to life powered by its hundreds of components was deeply terrifying. White Pearl fiddled with the position the veil and tucked more of Blue's long bangs to the side. Blue pulled away. She didn't want anyone besides her Diamond to do that. White sighed and pulled the bodice slightly to the left.

"You saw a scrying once, didn't you?"

Blue nodded.

"Society used to be very different, Blue. After the First War, we had to make a lot of sacrifices to bring Gemkind back from the brink of destruction. A regalia is a reminder. It's the epitome of our philosophy as a species: to polish what is rough, to make whole what is broken, and to cherish the gifts our forebears offered. You are part of Gemkind, and Gemkind is part of you. You can't separate yourself from it."

White stepped back and Blue inspected herself in the mirror again. A series of dots began to connect in her mind with the headdress as the center point. It had been made for _her_. Yellow Pearl did a series of acrobatic flips behind them. Her regalia was personalized too. Blue thought back to everything the ceremony encompassed and all that White Pearl had told her.

"Do you think we can do this?" Blue asked. White Pearl winked playfully.

"If I can handle the apocalypse you two can handle a public dance, can't you?"

Blue smiled weakly and nodded.

*****

The anniversary no one desired passed again. The civil war had officially been ongoing for seven hundred years. The event was mourned bitterly and only semi-privately. It had become a ritual for the Diamonds to tour Homeworld once every hundred years and meet with Gems whose lives had been most impacted. Everywhere they went, strained smiles and caged words followed. No one said it aloud, but the message was clear. No one understood how the war was still being fought.

The colony had long since ground to a halt, but life on Homeworld never stopped. Pearl hung close to her Diamond's side as the palanquin toured the holding bay. No matter how far they traveled, Pearl felt they weren't moving at all. The wide hallway stretched endlessly, spaced on both sides by hexagonal cells. Each one featured the exact same scene: they were filled by equally spaced rows of off-green, rounded cylinders on posts, and each cylinder had an indent in the center where a gemstone glittered. 

"As you can see, these new host vessels are state-of-the-art," their Peridot guide drawled as she led them further on. "Once a prisoner reforms inside, she is unable to move and can only speak, hear, or see at the discretion of our wardens. She is completely incapable of resistance, and can also be interrogated with ease."

Blue Pearl caught sight of another Peridot walking through the silent row of captives as they passed. She tapped a unit and a small light began blinking. A soft, tinny sound fluttered and Pearl turned back to look, but all she saw were the dark holding cells behind her as the sound faded out.

"This hardly seems like a punishment," White Diamond grumbled.

"Your radiance, I assure you the efficacy of our program is unparalleled. A few years in isolation teaches these petty hooligans to appreciate society. I will not waste your time detailing the consistent rise in petty crimes, deviant behavior, and inter-class conflicts as you are all well aware of the statistics. I will say that our program has an admirably low recidivism rate. Gems suitable for reintegration are far more docile upon release."

Against Pearl's expectations, the hallway came to an end. The next room was mercifully smaller, with Peridots and Zircons tapping away at a floor-to-ceiling barrage of screens. The Peridot saluted and Yellow Diamond leaned over to inspect a row of screens, all showing a stream of data next to labeled red icons.

"Of course, one can't help but mention that part of the rise in arrests is directly attributed to better surveillance. Under your direction, my Diamond, we are able to more effectively root out troublesome behavior at its source. As you requested, we've quadrupled our Red-Eye fleet for uninhabited areas and octupled the number of video and audio feeds in public areas. We understand that while some off-colored Gems have been tolerated in the past, it is no longer acceptable given their proclivity for treason. As you have so correctly indicated, public order is best maintained by constant vigilance! Only when we illuminate every impurity can we hope to cleave-"

"Yes, you've made yourself very clear," Yellow Diamond interrupted. "Get on with the demonstration so we can be on our way."

The Peridot nodded and pulled a holoscreen from her visor. A quick tap and doors on the other end of the hall parted. A dark red Gem with long hair was led by the arms of two Peridots. She was made to stop in front of the Diamonds. She kept her head down, but her haunted expression made Pearl stare. Their guide circled the trio.

"This is Proustite Facet 1, Cut 2DT. She was brought in for improper behavior. After ten months in our isolation chambers, she's completely free from any flaws. Isn't that right?"

Proustite nodded. A mechanical, dead motion. Her body was statue-still and her eyes remained far away. Their guide stopped in front of her and raised her up her chin.

"You'll behave yourself, correct? Because if you don't, we'll find you and you'll be sent back to the dark. You don't want to go back to the boundless dark, do you?"

Proustite recoiled as a spark of life ignited within her. She trembled, lightning-struck, and fell at the feet of her captor.

"No! No, I'll do anything. Please, I'll do whatever you ask. Just don't send me back to the dark. Please."

Yellow Diamond smiled.

*****

It was the same story wherever they went. Rebels were getting bolder while loyal Gems were getting more discouraged. Suspicion and hostility had tainted Homeworld, and everyone watched her back around her former comrades. There'd been more clashes with the upper crust, followed by more crackdowns. Tensions were rising and patrols were increasing. The Diamonds tightened their grip and more Gems fled, either escaping to Earth if they were lucky or simply disappearing into the underbelly of Homeworld if they weren't. The war sucked up all the Diamonds' time and attention, leaving artistic endowments in the dust. Parades, ceremonies, and public theaters used to be a common sight, but after so much neglect many had stopped running. The Ceremony of the Celestial Light remained an exception.

If the Prime Coliseum was imposing from the balcony seat, it was titanic from the ground. Blue Pearl had accompanied her Diamond here in the past, but this was the first time she'd be the one on display. It was the shining beacon of Homeworld's cultural district, where only the finest of performances were held. The Diamonds had come to make last minute preparations and Yellow and Blue Pearl were left to their own devices. Blue wandered across the immense stage and stared out at the thousands of seats surrounding her.

"There's going to be a blackout. I heard my Diamond say so."

Blue turned to see Yellow strut up next to her, attention drawn to the sky.

"My Diamond is going to have every light in a hundred miles shuttered. We'll get a perfect view of the stars for the show."

Blue Pearl looked up with her. The Prime Coliseum stood on top of a hill, and from the bottom one couldn't see any sign of buildings on the skyline. The evening sky was a dusty haze, with one moon already visible from their spot. There was a gap in the sky. Blue Pearl was surprised she'd never noticed it before. There was a gap to the upper left of the moon Clarita, where its sister should have been. It was so obvious now.

"It's exciting, isn't it?" Yellow continued on, twirling wildly around their platform, large enough to comfortably dock a whole armada. "I'm used to Gems hating me. Everyone who wants Yellow Diamond's attention has to go through me, and I've heard some terrible language Blue, let me tell you. But in another year every aristocrat worth her salt will be applauding me."

Yellow strutted to the end of the stage and outstretched her arms, enraptured with a crowd of her imagination. Blue stared out at all the hundreds upon hundreds of empty seats and felt queasy. The heavy thud of footsteps caught their attention. Yellow and Blue turned to see White Pearl standing in front of her Diamond. She beckoned them over, but seemed at a loss for words once they'd come closer. White Diamond stared down at the trio before snapping,

"Tell them and stop wasting time, Pearl."

White Pearl nodded and clapped her hands together, putting on her best smile.

"I have some good news for you two. You don't have to worry about your performances anymore. Given the...recent controversies, my Diamond felt it was...inappropriate for Pearls to be represented in the ceremony. None of us are performing, so we don't have to fret! Go ahead and thank White Diamond for her consideration."

White Pearl smiled wider, but it was a forced, ugly thing. Yellow and Blue turned to each other before staring in disbelief at White Diamond. Yellow looked like she wanted to protest, but thought better of it. She bowed slowly and deeply until her body was half bent over. Blue followed suit and from her position she could see the confusion and anger etched into Yellow Pearl as she faced the floor.

"Thank you, White Diamond," they both replied numbly. White Pearl still held her pained grin and Blue wanted to lash out at her. _This meant so much to you. How can you be so calm? How can you look so happy? After all you've done..._ White Diamond took off without another word and her Pearl followed after without turning back.

White's decision held even less popularity with her sisters. Blue could hear them all arguing off stage as she and Yellow commiserated by themselves. In an act of small rebellion, they'd forgone standing at attention to sit together, chins resting on their knees. From what they could hear, the arguments wouldn't be over quickly anyways.

"My Diamond will fix this," Yellow grumbled. Blue nodded even though she didn't believe it. "Last week she asked me to sing for her. And I did well! She was very impressed. She won't let all my effort be wasted. She despises waste. She'll fix this."

Blue nodded again and tried to quell the rolling in her gut. Maybe this was their fault. White had convinced her Diamond to let them participate, and they'd only dragged her down. Maybe this was White Pearl's punishment for coaxing two failures into the spotlight. Stars knew Blue never should have been up there, but the sudden loss stung keenly nonetheless. White said every Gem of standing would be attending. Blue knew it was folly, but over the years she couldn't help but wonder if she'd spot her daughters in the audience. Her eyes would scan across the crowd and suddenly they'd stop on someone unknown but familiar, a stranger bearing her face, and she'd be clapping for Blue as she danced across the stage. She wouldn't recognize Blue, but she'd be enraptured with Blue's performance and Blue would be so proud of her approval. But that was all in her imagination; it never would have happened anyway.

"-And I don't care _what_ she says, I'm not giving my regalia back either! It's mine now and by the stars I'll save it for next time! I've always been a good Pearl! I've done nothing wrong, so why should I be punished? No, it's not right. My Diamond will fix this. She always does," Yellow fumed darkly. Blue patted her on the back in lieu of any words of comfort. 

*****

She couldn't bring herself to be excited. The day they'd been so anxious to see arrived today. Either Yellow Diamond's cajoling made no difference or she hadn't cared enough to try. The Ceremony of the Celestial Light marched on without the pearls. She _had_ made good on the promised blackout and the galaxies surrounding Homeworld shined vibrantly above. Blue couldn't deny it was beautiful. She'd be watching the ceremony with the Diamonds from the private balcony. Blue wondered bitterly if she could identify Gems by the back of their heads.

With a few hours left to go, the Diamonds were working backstage and allowed their Pearls to wander. There wasn't much to do. Yellow Pearl remained at her Diamond's side as she spoke to an Agate about security. Bitterness rolled off her like steam. Blue Diamond was absorbed in a discussion with White, and Blue Pearl noticed White Pearl wasn't at her side. She slipped off without being noticed. Gems passing her by paid no mind, too absorbed in their duties to care about a lone Pearl.

In a blink she was swallowed in a sea of Gems, all pushing her along in their rush to their duties. Anxiety burbled up in Blue's throat as she spun and twisted to avoid bumping into strangers. Just as she was about to turn back, something caught Blue's eye. The sign on the door read 'Defunct: Do Not Enter' yet a light peeked out the cracks.

Blue opened the door as quietly as she could and gasped. White Pearl whirled around at the disturbance. She had become a prism. Gradients of color danced and rolled across her body, intertwining with fields and streams of gold. The regalia was a work of sublime beauty. Blue stood transfixed. It was only after a few seconds that she took a second look at White. Her eyes were puffy and dried tear stains marked her face. Blue closed the door after her and White turned away.

"Please don't look at me, Blue, I'm in such a sorry state."

"You're beautiful," Blue murmured. White smiled modestly and wiped her eyes. She'd been sitting on a pallet and patted the spot next to her. Blue took a seat and White folded her hands into her lap.

"I know I can't take part, but I just wanted to feel like it," she explained.

"There's next time," Blue offered. White shook her head.

"The ten thousandth year was special. I can't get this one back."

"I'm sorry, White."

"Sometimes you get disappointed, Blue. Such is life."

There was a strange juxtaposition to the scene beside her. White Pearl, the unswerving professional, slouched over with her forearms resting on her legs. Her characteristic look of serenity was replaced by deep furrows of concentration or discontent. The elegance of the regalia clashed with White Pearl and the mundane surroundings. The world had tilted slightly and the axis was right here in this room. Blue wanted to make sense of it.

"Why did you let White Diamond take credit?"

White's hands twitched.

"I don't know to what you're referring, Blue," she stated.

"The ceremony. You planned it, didn't you? The story...it's what you believe. Our regalia were made for _us_. White Diamond doesn't _know_ me. Or Yellow Pearl. It's all you, isn't it?"

White Pearl made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle. She dragged her fingers across the gemstones in her skirt as she sat up straight, making a light, metallic rustle.

"White Diamond forged me in her own hands. I am an extension of her magic, therefore it's only proper that she receive credit for what she, in her own way, created."

"But... she didn't."

White didn't have an immediate answer for that. She traced a finger around a large opal in her regalia before speaking.

"I want to tell you another story, Blue. One about the very first days after the end of the world. After the first colony struck Homeworld, the blast set the world on fire. It leveled cities, destroyed the atmosphere, and made the oceans boil. I don't know how I survived. When I reformed, everyone was reeling. We'd won the war, but at a terrible cost. I found my Diamond comforting the others. ~~~~

'This is exactly what we needed!' She told them. 'We could never start our new empire on the bones of the old. We'll rebuild, bigger, better, and more beautiful than you can imagine! In a thousand years, there'll be a city here. A shining, glorious city that's a testament to Gemkind. It will be breathtaking, at it will be all ours!' Blue, I saw that city on the horizon, and it was the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen. At that moment I vowed to do everything in my power to make it real. I believed in my Diamond, and still do. Everything I've done, I've done for her."

*****

Blue stared down from the balcony box as the lights in the Coliseum dimmed. To her left sat White Diamond and her Pearl, and Yellow Diamond further off. White had 'put on her face' in her own words and looked no worse for wear. Blue wondered more keenly than ever how she managed to do it. The fading lights indicated the start of the Ceremony. Blue kept her eyes on White Pearl. A voice from the loudspeakers echoed through the coliseum.

_'First, there was a singularity.'_

White mouthed the words, but another Gem's voice filled the area. A flash of light from the stage caught Blue's attention. The music started and everything else fell away.

It was, truly, magic.

 ***** ~~~~

"You were stunning, my Diamond! Beautiful! I don't have the words to describe how moved I am, how deeply affecting the Ceremony was this year!"

"Thank you, Aquamarine," Blue Diamond repeated, her attention at the line of Gems accumulating behind her.

"Your regalia this year, why, I'm practically speechless! It's simply magnificent! Exquisite! It's-"

" _Thank you_ , Aquamarine," Blue Diamond repeated with greater force. Aquamarine took the hint, bowed deeply, and departed. For once, Pearl sympathized with her. She was still caught up in the whirlwind of the performance. The climax of the final scene involved all three Diamonds onstage, in their regalia. Pearl had been so caught up in the performance she'd barely noticed them slip away. The lights had flashed and there they _were_ , shining with the combined light of ten thousand Gems and Pearl ached for the radiance of it. It all made sense then. The Ceremony of the Celestial Light was, above all things, a mythology based on the belief in a bright future. Blue wanted to keep believing in that goodness, that hope, even if it seemed so very far away.

The Diamonds gathered after the Ceremony to bask in the glow of compliments. Long lines formed for all three, but the one for White was the longest. Blue could overhear similar lines of praise directed at her, which White Diamond took with a solemn dignity. Her Pearl remained by her side, cheerfully stoic as Gems misdirected their adulations on her mistress. 

The crowd dispersed as dawn dipped pink hues on the Coliseum walls. Attendants removed the Diamonds' regalia and Pearl meditated on what White Pearl said about their weight. By the time Blue Diamond and Pearl made their way back home, the surrounding lights blazed to life and the city surged with activity. They'd take the remainder of the day for rest. Blue Pearl was pleased for that.

"White Diamond really outdid herself this time," her Diamond mentioned as the palanquin traveled. "It's a shame she didn't let you three participate, but she's particular about her work. I know she can be difficult, but when it comes to her art, she's a natural savant."

"She's... something else," Pearl muttered, and even that felt like rebellion. Her own regalia hung heavy in Pearl's chest, tucked away within her gem. Blue wanted to tell her mistress the truth. Instead, she squeezed her palms together and said nothing.

*****

"I am utterly furious with you! There is no excuse for what you've done, understood?"

Chester nodded again, shirking from the intensity of an outburst three million lightyears away.

"You not only ignored my order to stay the course,  you went behind my back entirely! What could possibly have been going through your mind?"

Blue Diamond still seethed as she thought about the report. Major Jasper, Facet 4 Cut-3AR, caught secretly training non-military grade Gems in basic combat. The initial interrogation suggested she'd been doing so for years. Chester had taken responsibility for her actions and accepted the barrage of abuse Blue Diamond hurled from her transmission.

"Please, My Diamond, I only had our best interests in mind. It was for self-defense and I never trained anyone I didn't trust. You have to believe me, I'm not a rebel!"

"I don't want to hear it. You are to return home, Jasper. That is an order."

"But you said--"

"I know what I said, and this is what I'm saying now. Do not argue with me! Return. Home. You'll be granted clearance to the Galaxy Warp in one hour."

She'd be stripped of her rank, of course. And she wouldn't be allowed to resume guard duty until Blue Diamond could trust her again. The Jasper was one of her best and she'd be damned before she allowed such a prize to fall into rebel hands. Blue Diamond had ignored the warning signs before and she wouldn't do it again. One way or another, Chester would be under her thumb where she belonged.

"There's nothing I can do to change your mind?" Chester crooned with a nervous, half-cocked smile. Blue Diamond remained unmoved.

"I have already been extremely lenient with you, Jasper. Your off-color behavior ends today."

The barb hit its mark. Chester tensed and then went slack in quiet resignation. It was a cruel blow, but a necessary one. Chester's lax mores weren't the only concern for her loyalty. Rose had a habit of catering to off-color Gems, including impure ones like Chester. Impure Gems, ones born of two different parents, did not have pre-ordained places in society. Even with all the influence their mothers could arrange, most had to squeeze themselves into a mold that didn't quite fit, and Chester was no different. She was in all sense of the words, an off-color Jasper.

Blue Diamond had never made issue of Chester's heritage until today. She didn't want to believe Rose's radicalism had infected Chester, but knew better than to ignore the signs. If Chester had any sense left, she'd remember where her loyalty lay. The purple Jasper ran a hand through her hair and nodded. Her expression remained impassive.

"Understood. I'll be back soon, My Diamond." 

Chester saluted and cut the transmission. Blue Diamond sighed and rubbed her temple. It was for the best. She pulled up local distribution lists for Jaspers, looking for a place to take her for rehabilitation. Perhaps in another few decades they could look back on this as a bump on an otherwise smooth road. Once she was home, Blue Diamond would fix this.

Chester didn't return home.


	14. Chapter 14

The Galaxy Citadel was the last bastion of the Diamond Authority on Earth. Tucked away in the frozen north, far from prying human eyes, stood a castle of titanic proportions. This was the hub of Homeworld operations, the fort upon which the Diamonds made their remote stand. Here lay the factories, shipping out ammunition and all manner of supplies; ere buzzed the receptor station, picking up all the broadcasts from the communication hub; and here resided most of Homeworld's civilian population, driven to safety after the ravage of war left their residences hollow shells. Small groups of loyalists still clung to the fringes, trying to build their lives in the midst of endless pandemonium. Most resided in spiritual enclaves and refused to abandon grounds they saw as sacred. As long as they weren't directly involved with Homeworld resistance, rebel groups tended to leave them alone.

All of this paled compared to the treasure at the heart of the Citadel, the whole reason for its creation and fortification: the Galaxy Warp, providing a thin sliver of connection home, and sixteen Earth warps to the most valuable places on the colony.  Although no troops had managed to breach it, smuggling remained a constant threat. Gems looking to escape Homeworld had only one route: through the warp, typically poofed and hidden within a normal shipment of goods. Dozens of defectors were found every month, but some managed to spill through the cracks.

Yellow Diamond made a trip down to oversee implementation of a new breed of scanner to cut down on the problem and the other Diamonds found excuses to accompany her. Blue Diamond followed leads on Chester while White Diamond put on an impromptu show for the few nobles still on Earth, courtesy of her Pearl. Blue Pearl had never visited the Citadel before and she found the sheer scale overwhelming. It was as if an entire city was crammed into a single building. She didn't have much time to appreciate her surroundings before a more insistent matter demanded her attention. Namely, Yellow Pearl snaking her arm around Blue's and dragging her off to Yellow Diamond's palanquin for a 'chit-chat' while their Diamonds worked. Blue found herself caged in the unfamiliar vehicle by a devious Yellow.

"Alright, Blue, time to spill. You're sitting on the biggest scandal in centuries and I need every single detail! Tell me _everything_ about Blue Diamond's infamous ex-guard."

"I don't have any details," Blue growled. She'd overheard the news from her Diamond. She'd recalled Chester home and that was the last anyone saw of her. Right now, Blue Pearl was three million lightyears closer to Chester, but she'd never felt farther away.

"You have to know something," Yellow prodded. "You talked to her, after all. I saw you. What did she say?  She didn't try anything unbecoming, did she?"

"No!" Blue snapped. "She wasn't like that. She was... she was nice. She just said hello, sometimes."

"Oh, Blue, you innocent, naive little thing. The only reason a Jasper might act nice is because she's... you know... organically inclined, if you catch my meaning. I don't even know how your Diamond could let one of those Gems near her. Or you, for that matter!"

" _All_ guards are Jaspers, Yellow," Blue retorted while gesturing to the Jaspers stationed around the perimeter.

"Yes, but they're not all cross-contaminated impurities. My Diamond would never authorize a Gem like that to be made. She says they're born traitors, every last one."

Blue massaged her temples to ward off the brewing headache.  She really didn't want to have this discussion. Yellow had unwittingly provided Blue with a more intimate peek into her personal life than she realized, and this conversation was enough salt in old wounds already. A forklift carrying huge slabs of granite rolled past. Blue considered hitching a ride on the thing just to get her away from this inanity.

"I suppose a cross between an Amethyst and Jasper isn't too terrible," Yellow conceded. "Considering most impure Gems are Quartz mutts anyway. You know, I heard a rumor there was a Peridot with Ruby impurities running around with a Hessonite in Sector Two. Personally, I think it's got to be an aberration that only looks a little Ruby-like. Something like that couldn't really happen; it would just be a freak."

Blue abruptly stopped rubbing her temples.

" _What_?"

"Only identical Gems can make stable fusions, so it'd be the same for... _cultured_ Gems, wouldn't it? The greater the difference, the more monstrous it is. You saw one of those repulsive things first-hand in the old Cloud Arena, didn't you? Can you imagine something with all those extra limbs and eyes trying to drag itself out of a hole? Ha! How much do you want to bet those some of those Crystals— Blue? Are you alright?"

Blue tripped over her feet on her dizzy dash out of the palanquin. How did she not think of that? The crowd around her congealed into a mass of moving colors and sound. Yellow called to her again but the noise was lost in the mono-sensational sludge. Blue Diamond's palanquin. Just make it there. Keep it together. Don't do this in front of her. Blue squeezed her fists so hard the skin of her palms broke. 'Blue Diamond would've told me,' Pearl insisted to herself. 'No, she wouldn't; she'd lie to keep me happy. That's why we never talk about them,' she argued back to herself.

"Blue!" Yellow shouted as she chased after her. "Why are you so upset? It's only speculation!"

"Why do you have to be so _morbid_?" Blue spat. Yellow recoiled. Blue Pearl found her way back to her Diamond's palanquin and when she was sure no one was watching her, she cried quietly in the back.

*****

The cold was too much for most organic life, or so Blue Pearl heard. Blue Diamond brought her up here, to an isolated pillar on top of the Citadel, to bask in the radiance of Earth's sky like old times. The stone comprising the Galaxy Citadel was a murky violet with flashes of silvery substrate. Pearl ran her fingers over the cold marble and thought it looked very much like chunks of the night sky had been crystallized and harvested to build this place. Streams of colored lights glowed above, painting the stars in rivers of greens and blues. As far as Pearl could see was a field of snow capped by the opulent sky. This land, in all its strange beauty, was her daughters' birthright. The snows and seas were in their bodies, the stars and auroras in their gemlight. That's what she had believed until tonight. Instead, they might still be cradled in the embrace of the soil, returned to the inorganic strata that was supposed to nourish them. The thought was too much to bear.

Casting her gaze upwards once more, the benign twinkling of stars suddenly passed. Some subtle change made them appear quivering in place, as if the uncounted billions of them were wavering in their decision to stay aloft. Pearl felt as if at any moment, the whole mass of midnight sky would collapse upon her and drown the entire planet in soft, decaying orbs of light. Rooted in place, she tensed herself for that final celestial sigh heralding the end of her days. Yet the stars remained fixed in their orbits and the sensation of cosmic terror passed quietly into the night sky with her next exhaled breath.

"What are thinking, Pearl?" Blue Diamond cooed as she stood behind her.

"Are our children alive?" Pearl blurted. The frigid air hardened the tears and Pearl wiped the stinging drops away as quickly as they came. "Were they monsters? Like those fusions. The ones with big jaws and all the arms."

"Of course they're alive," Blue Diamond answered after a turn. "They're fine; they're normal."

"How would _you_ know? We've never met them!" Pearl snapped. Her double-edged blow sent them both reeling. Blue Diamond shrunk from Pearl, avoiding her scrutiny by pulling her veil farther down her face. Pearl brushed her bangs aside. "...Have you?"

When Blue Diamond failed to answer, Pearl had to swallow the grief scorching her throat like a hot coal. "I'm... tired. Of secrets," Pearl told her. "You don't have to shelter me. I want our lives to connect, good and bad. I can handle more than you think. "

Over eight hundred years ago, Blue Pearl and Blue Diamond brought three daughters into this world, under this exact sky. Pearl had been alive for almost five millennia, but she'd become unrecognizably different since that day. What would the Blue Pearl of eight hundred years ago think if she could see herself now? Blue Diamond sighed and ran a thumb across Pearl's forehead.

"I _wanted_ to keep you sheltered. I love you, Pearl, and I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I love you too," Pearl told her. "That's why I want us to share our lives, even if it hurts sometimes."

Blue Diamond knelt down to kiss Pearl and she rose on her tiptoes to meet her. The middle ground in their relationship was a deep chasm that both she and her Diamond had to endlessly jump across in order to meet. Despite every obstacle, every difficulty, Pearl wouldn't think of stopping. Maybe some day, in the distant future, they'd build a bridge to cross the gulf proper, but today they'd settle for laying down the first planks.

"I've kept my distance from our daughters," Blue Diamond told her. "They have never seen my face in person, nor I theirs. I've viewed their personnel reports, that's all. As far as they know, they're average members of Gem society. They're all Pearls, but they don't know it."

"How can they not know they're Pearls? Or impure? Don't they feel conflicts about who they are?"

Blue Diamond didn't have an answer for that.

*****

It was a strange experience to stand on a terrace and feel bigger than a Diamond. The Lepidolite district did that to a Gem. Neither Blue Pearl nor Blue Diamond could enter the city proper. A busy thoroughfare in miniature dotted the scene before her, with equally small Gems going about their business. A spire the size of a Diamond's torso drifted in the sky, casting a shadow over a rotunda that came up to Pearl's head. When she squinted, a minuscule mosaic pattern revealed itself in the spire walls. A covered walkway with lattice walls banded the cloistered city. Lepidolites ranked along Sapphires among the holiest of Gems, and shared their preference for isolation from society at large. Part of that was due to the obvious. Being a little over half a foot tall in a society built to accommodate sixteen foot high Diamonds would've posed endless logistical concerns. These halls surrounding the district served as a buffer, allowing Lepidolite dignitaries to meet visitors on equal grounds. Blue Diamond placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder as they stood under the open archway.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Blue Diamond asked. Pearl nodded.

"Is this what you feel like? All the time?"

"Never quite as drastic as this," Blue Diamond replied with a smile.

A prickle on Blue's neck drew their attention back towards the confines of the hall. Orange light filtered in from the stone lattice as a robed figure glided towards them. A curving mask concealed most the Gem's face while in her cupped arms rested an ornate palanquin. An Iolite. Shorter than the ones under the Oracle's command, but possessed of a no less imposing aura. The Iolite bowed slightly to Blue Diamond, then pulled a latch at the bottom of the small palanquin to reveal the Gem within. The dusky magenta Lepidolite inside bowed to Blue Diamond before starting.

"I appreciate your presence, my Diamond. I have come to plead your involvement on a matter most urgent."

"If it's regarding the Lepidolites on Earth, then I'm afraid there is little more I can do. I have asked them to find safer lodgings in the Citadel, but they refuse to leave their posts. I imagine they would think even less of being recalled home."

The Lepidolite shook her head.

"My sisters have made their commitment. They will not abandon consecrated ground. The Spires are beacons to Gemkind, and their sacred light requires a caretaker. No, this is about a matter of succession. The Oracle has been gone for centuries, but the Temple of the Galaxy Needle remains without a head priestess. Sapphire of Xi is the logical candidate, but Sapphire of Rho has called her competency into question and amassed a great following herself. There are whispers of a schism, my clarity."

Blue Pearl never got used to the Lepidolites. She took in every minute aspect of the Gem before her, from the elongated hexagon gemstone in her torso to the wirework detail of her tiny palanquin. They were the only other Gems besides the Diamonds allowed their use. When duty called a Lepidolite away from the district, another Gem served as her escort. Despite being smaller than a Topaz's head, they housed incredible power and were treated with due reverence.  A warning prickle on Pearl's neck made her look up. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought the Iolite was staring back at her.

"My Radiance, you are our leader. You must intervene. Our temples have fallen to ruin and our people are without guidance. Times of hardship require spiritual guidance more than ever, but such matters have been pushed aside. I have come to plead with you: be our beacon in these times of darkness. Illuminate the path we must follow."

Guilt nibbled at Blue Diamond. It was easy to forget the temples didn't run themselves when their caretakers were so self-reliant. She'd been active in their management in the early days, but allowed that part of her life to wither over the past centuries. She couldn't recall the last time she even visited one outside of business. There was always so much to do and it felt like a leisure she couldn't spare. She understood a little better how Yellow Diamond felt. The difference between them was that Yellow was content that way and Blue was not. The Galaxy Needle would have its rightful priestess. She assured the Lepidolite of this. Her visitor thanked her graciously and Blue Diamond promised herself a visit to a temple some time soon.

*****

"I think you made a friend, boss."

One Eye's sour demeanor made it clear she felt no such way. In the aftermath of Chester's disappearance she'd become even more sullen. The other guards became outlets for her wrath, driving a deeper wedge between them. Where there had once been deference was now mere tolerance salted with grudging respect for One Eye's seniority. As everyone else turned away, Blue Pearl's attention refocused on her old antagonist. She'd been trying to find a way to get close to One Eye without risking being alone with her, which had proved more difficult than expected. This was the first time in months the Diamonds had a meeting together, and by her luck One Eye was stationed at the east end of their round antechamber with no one but Ocean Jasper for company.

"Whatcha doin' over here? Your little Pearl pals getting too chatty for you?" Ocean crooned as she hunched down with hands on knees to address Blue Pearl.

"Fuck off," Pearl grumbled, inclining her head back to the other Jaspers. Ocean's mouth popped open. She scrambled to the north entrance doors where the main body of guards stood and gestured wildly to Blue. Even out of earshot, the gist of the conversation was clear.

 "You'll get yours if Blue Diamond hears you cursed like that," One Eye sneered.

Blue shrugged.

"Who'll believe her?" she countered.

"What do you want?" One Eye growled. Blue picked at her fingers. One Eye's recent actions cemented a theory Blue Pearl harbored for some time. Chester's elite rank and One Eye's soft spot towards her had been twin mysteries to Pearl. Only now it seemed clear that it had been a single mystery all along. She would have preferred to ask Chester, but with that option indefinitely postponed, One Eye was her only source for the truth. On the bright side, they were in a rather cramped space. Even if she blew up at Pearl, she wouldn't dare lash out with so many witnesses.

"I know how you feel. About Chester," Blue started cautiously. "Wondering what she's doing. If she's safe." 

"Un-fucking-believable. You think you know how _I_ feel? What, you think you know someone after speaking, what, eight? nine times to them? I'm sure that's impressive for you, but trust me, it's not."

"What is your problem with me?" Pearl snapped, "I was just—"

" _My_ problem? You're the one who screwed everything up! Chester left because of _you!_ Did you know that? If you hadn't been tempting her—"

"Tempting?! "

"—she wouldn't have left the only goddamn career in this whole stars-forsaken empire that could've kept her safe! If she could've trusted herself around you, she wouldn't have gotten tangled up in all that traitor silt! She might get shattered and it's all your goddamn fault!"

"I... I wasn't... Blue Diamond wouldn't..."

"Hey, shut up," One Eye snapped as she looked around the room.

"No! I never—"

" _Shut. up_." One Eye hissed, abruptly staring at the vestibule doors with a laser focus. Across the room, the other guards came to attention as well. Pearl bit her tongue. A heavy silence cloaked the room. Then, in the distance beyond the door, Blue Pearl caught a faint sound: the ping of a Gem's power activating. Pearl stepped back. The guards summoned their weapons. The moment hung heavy in the air. An explosion rocketed through the doors, turning hunks of stone into projectile chunks. Yellow Pearl screamed. Three creatures barreled through, each bigger than a Diamond with slavering jaws, long, segmented bodies, and over a dozen arms apiece. These were not fusions; they were monsters.

One Eye squeezed Blue's wrist in an iron grip as she dashed towards her fellow guards with Blue in tow. She gasped and clawed instinctively, every molecule of her body screaming to flee. The nearest beast opened a muzzle with double rows of fangs and screeched. The other two made for the door to the Diamonds. One swiped a massive hand to send a pack of guards flying. The other wrenched open the doorframe just in time to be tackled by a Jasper fusion half its size. Blue could see Yellow and White, clutching each other in a panic. Something clanged on the floor and skittered past. A small, oblong metal sphere with a long handle. One Eye swerved into Pearl and wrapped around her body in a crushing embrace.

"OH FUCK," someone screamed, "EVERYBODY GE—"

A searing light swallowed the rest of her words, along with everything else.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Consciousness erupted before Blue Pearl's eyes. She gasped and thrashed feverishly, fear racing electric through her body. A dark form still smothered her in an embrace while howling wildly. It took a second to register the change. Blue Diamond had shrunken down to Quartz size and sobbed as she clutched Pearl.

"PEARL! Oh Pearl, my Pearl, my darling!" she wailed, "I thought I'd lost you. Oh Pearl, let me look at you. How do you feel? Are you alright?"

Just as quickly Blue Diamond pushed Pearl to arms' length to pat her body up and down. Pearl absorbed her change in surroundings while her Diamond inspected her. They were back in Blue Diamond's quarters, but everything had been tossed into disarray. Statues lay broken on the ground tangled in swaths of crumpled drapery, intermixed with various artifacts from the curio shelves. 

"I...I don't....what happened?" she mumbled, "The monsters...my form..."

Blue Diamond embraced her again and Pearl felt just a little more grounded against the familiar presence. She pressed her face against the flat facet of her Diamond's gem and held her tightly. Fat drops of tears peppered Pearl's head and back. Blue Diamond had pulled her veil low over her face, masking everything but her nose and lips. 

"There was an assassination attempt," Blue Diamond started once she composed herself. "Those abominations caught us by surprise. We...we all had very close calls. The other Diamonds are alive. Their Pearls too. You were chipped in the attack. I'd saved vials of Rose's tears from before she defected, but I thought...I thought I didn't make it in time. You've been dormant a month."

Pearl touched her Gem. The surface felt unmarred. Blue Diamond clutched her tighter and Pearl struggled to comprehend her near-death experience. She'd only lost her form once before from the strain of her daughters' birth. Then as now time passed uninterrupted, but before there hadn't been such a whiplash of circumstance. The bomb flash and Jaspers' screams hung fresh in her mind. 

"The One-Eyed Jasper saved me. Is she...?"

"She was damaged as well, but I healed her after you."

One Eye saved her life. If it hadn't been for her, Blue Pearl would've caught the full brunt of the explosion. The next time they met, Pearl would have to thank her, despite how little that meant to the ornery guard. There were more pressing concerns right now. Namely, the state of their living space. It looked like White Diamond's quarters after a bad tantrum, right down to the broken screens on the wall from a flying projectile. 

"I haven't been myself," Blue Diamond answered to Pearl's unasked question. "in more ways than one. Pearl, there's something you need to know."

Blue Diamond lowered her veil and Pearl cried sharply. Her long, indigo hair was gone. A shock of fluffy white crowned her head. Dark bags ringed her luminous eyes, creating a haunted pallor. No, it wasn't just her eyes. Pearl cupped her Diamond's face with shaking hands. Her skin was a shade lighter too.  

"White Diamond had to use her healing powers on me," Blue Diamond explained. Pearl sucked in a sharp breath. White Diamond didn't heal, not the way Pink Diamond did. Her powers brought Gems back better left dead, too broken to comprehend themselves but still aware enough to suffer. White Pearl once mentioned her Diamond's ability was rooted in her mental state. It was easy to utilize her abilities for torture, but benevolent uses lay beyond her grasp. If White Diamond had tapped into that potential, then that could only mean her Diamond...

Blue Pearl wiped the fresh tear tracks off her Diamond's face, too shaken to speak. The enormity of what she'd awoken to was too much to grasp. Blue Diamond in turn gently brushed the hair from Pearl's eyes and cupped her face. Blue Diamond leaned in to kiss her, but she tasted slightly of ash and her motions felt hungry and fearful at the same time. 

They curled up together, head on the other's shoulder with arms wrapped tight around the other. Gem touched Gem, flat to smooth, facet to round, but Pearl could only reflect on how intrinsically their lives were bound together. Pearl and Diamond, Diamond and Pearl. What would her mistress do if she died? It was selfish, folly even, to think her Diamond unable to continue without her, but the same couldn't be said for Pearl. The idea of a life without her Diamond was inconceivable. Everything she knew, loved, and experienced revolved around Blue Diamond. Imagining a future under Yellow or White Diamond, or even one of Blue Diamond's aristocrats, filled her with impotent dread. For the first time, Pearl's hierarchical status frightened her. What would she ever do if her Diamond left?

Pearl clutched her Diamond even closer and she returned the gesture, murmuring reassurances in the crook of Pearl's neck. Pearl kissed the star-white head beside her and tried to block out the dismal thoughts. She had been made for her Diamond, but in their own way they'd become a matching set. They would always be together. Pearl would not,  _could not_ , have otherwise. 

*****

Yellow and White visited the next day. Blue Diamond triumphantly presented her; the pair of them snatched from an early grave. Four Gems stood in awe of her presence. The second Blue Diamond took off with her sisters, Yellow and White Pearl dropped all decorum and raced to her in giddy delight. Yellow cackled as she hugged, inspected, and patted Blue on the shoulders in rapid succession.

"I  _told_ you she wasn't dead!" Yellow crowed at White. "You must have  _so_ many questions," Yellow gushed as she turned back to Blue. "Well don't you worry, we're happy to provide details!"

Blue Pearl pieced together the story from Yellow and White's exchanges. One of the monsters threw a stick bomb, dissipating her, One Eye, and another three guards. They argued on the specifics, but agreed everything exploded into chaos after that. The fusions attacked the Diamonds and tossed more explosives. Some of the remaining guards fused and tried to fight one off, only to be destabilized by a bite to the throat, followed by a blast that dissipated and killed some of them. Both claimed their Diamond was the one to scream at the others not to smash their opponents' Gems. When Blue questioned why not, Yellow reminded her of the sordid story about the Pearl her Diamond smashed centuries earlier. Everything a Pearl carried in her Gem manifested back in regular space once her Gem was destroyed, which potentially included enough TNT to level a city block. 

According to White, the cramped space put the Diamonds at a disadvantage. The long, segmented bodies of the fusion monsters enabled them to dodge attacks with ease. Blue Diamond had been destabilized and cracked and the other two were in rough shape by the time the last beast fell. 

"You have to tell her the best part!" Yellow insisted and playfully smacked White on the shoulder. White smiled demurely and straightened a non-existent wrinkle on her sheer tiered skirts. 

"It's nothing, Blue, really," she insisted.

 _"Nothing?"_ Yellow exclaimed, "Blue, she's a hero! A century from now they'll hold parades for her!"

"I'm afraid Yellow is exaggerating again, Blue. She's making my participation sound much more relevant than it was in truth."

A short but friendly argument later had Yellow narrating the juicy story instead.

"There we were, trapped by ourselves when the fighting started. We saw you lose your form in the explosion, but had no idea if you were alive or dead. You were all the way on the other side of the room; we couldn't even see your Gem. Everyone was fighting and we huddled together trying to stay incognito when White bolted straight into the frenzy! She weaved through all those Gems, swooped in, picked you up--"

"--Along with the others," White added.

"--Along with those failed excuses for Jaspers, then darted right back to me and dumped the whole lot in my hands! I'd never seen anything like it! No one even noticed her, that's how quick she was! Then she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to safety, back into that meeting room our Diamonds were using. I've never been so terrified, Blue! It was dreadful! All that screaming and smoke and gem shards everywhere--"

"Yellow," White chided.

"--And then! Would you believe it, White darted right back out into that mess and did something incredible! I still can't believe it! She created a massive hologram of some ugly thing and it scared the last monster something fierce! She distracted it long enough for her Diamond to dissipate it with her flail!"

"I only made a diversion, but the thought is appreciated."

The three of them didn't get much longer to talk before Yellow Diamond's business cut the reunion short. Yellow Pearl reluctantly trotted off with her mistress, leaving Blue and White alone. White reached over and embraced her with a tenderness Blue Pearl had never known. She allowed herself to be held without complaint, now accustomed to the physical fanfare of her return. She still had trouble imagining she'd been dormant a month. They'd never be close friends like her and Yellow, but they'd come to a better understanding and Blue would be just as relieved if White was the one reforming after a near-death encounter. Blue loosely draped her arms around White, who tightened her grip in response. 

"Blue, you need to be careful," White whispered. "My Diamond is on the warpath and believes you're the next Pink."

" _What?_ " Blue gasped.

"After your accident, Blue Diamond was inconsolable. She wanted nothing to do with us. My Diamond brought her back to-- to health, and she cared for nothing but your welfare. Once White Diamond has an idea in her head she sticks to it; there's nothing I can say to dissuade her. Blue, I know we haven't anyways seen eye to eye, but you've got a good moral code, don't you? You wouldn't... you wouldn't follow in Pink's footsteps, would you?"

White Pearl squeezed her tightly, digging pointed fingers into Blue's back. Blue gulped. She wasn't talented enough to lie convincingly; White would see through any denials regarding her and Blue Diamond's affair. What could she even say? The progression of their relationship was as immutable as the passage of time. She didn't want a revolution or the supposed 'freedom' to be a soldier like Pink. All she'd ever wanted or needed was a peaceful life with Blue Diamond.

"I'm not like Pink," Blue finally told her. "I'd have to be brave for that." 

It wasn't an answer, not to the real question White asked, and Blue knew White caught her oversight. White released her to fiddle with the edge of her mid-section veil. 

"I'm worried about my Diamond, too. Rogue Gems keep trying to assassinate her and she's not handling it well. She's going somewhere dark and nothing I do seems to reach her. This is the worst it's ever been, and I'm afraid you'll be caught in her crossfire. If you don't keep your head low and wits ready, I don't know what she could do to you."

"Why does she have to be so cruel? Why is she... _like that_?"

"You mean defective," White Pearl murmured. Blue Pearl didn't say anything. It had been said in countless references, pointed silences, and hushed euphemisms for all the thousands of years Blue Pearl had ever heard mention of White Diamond. She was the oldest, most venerable Diamond, and there was something deeply wrong with her. White parted from Blue and thoughtfully traced a finger on the hem of her veil. 

"You know, I was afraid of my Diamond when I first met her. Isn't that a terrible thing to say? Well, it's true. I had just formed into existence and I here I was, sitting in the palms of this massive being. She told me once that every time she uses her powers,  _really_ uses them, she gives away a tiny piece of her spirit. Perhaps it's selfish, but I like to think she gave me part of her eyes."

White looked up and Blue stared down twin images of herself, captured and reflected in the black mirrors that made White's large pupils. 

"The reason we're called Pearls...started as an insult. A Pearl meant something pretty on the outside, but made of detritus on the inside. Our kernels are composed of the calcified remains of our predecessors. When I was made, everyone said I was a Gem on the outside, but one of  _them_ on the inside. White Diamond was the only one who didn't believe that. I'll never know what she saw when she looked at that pile of ash and minerals, but none of us would be here without her. Her vision made Homeworld what it is! She used to be hailed as the savior of our people, but now rogue Gems are trying to kill her. I know what everyone says about her, but I don't believe any of it. They haven't seen White Diamond like I have, and I know she's not a bad Gem. She's done terrible things, but it was so we could have a future. She works tirelessly for the betterment and protection of our race, and no one else gets to see that. I just wish...

"I wish everyone else could see her the way I do."

"You love her," Blue stated in dawning realization. White smiled sadly. 

"White Diamond is the closest thing in this reality to a goddess. Everything I've done has been to further her vision. She just needs to have more faith in herself."

White embraced her again and Blue returned the gesture in full force. 

"Can you promise me you'll keep out of harm's way?" White asked.

"I don't think anyone can promise that anymore," Blue told her.

"Then promise you'll avoid attention."

Blue nodded. "That, I can do."

*****

Not everyone was as fortunate as her. Blue Pearl got a harsh reminder days later when her Diamond wished to visit the Galaxy Needle. In her mind's eye she saw seven Jaspers marching around the palanquin, but today there were only four. Three had given their lives protecting their Diamond. One was the Ocean Jasper Pearl had cursed out right before the incident. Her Lilac companion survived, but the toll of her friend's death weighed clear.

The Galaxy Needle fit its namesake as both the narrowest and oldest temple on Homeworld. A beacon shined at the tip, bleeding into the surrounding galaxy above. It stood as a symbol of the Gem Empire, sewing life and light throughout the universe. From Pearl's perspective on the ground, it looked ready to burst the night sky like an overfilled balloon. Its popularity had waned over the millennia as bigger, shinier, and more complex temples popped up elsewhere. Compared to them, the worn basalt-block structure couldn't compete. Her Diamond preferred it, and that was all that mattered in the end.  

Pearl had accompanied her mistress here on multiple occasions, but none since the new leadership. After her meeting with the Lepidolites, Blue Diamond decreed the Sapphire of Xi to be its rightful inheritor. Her adversary, Sapphire of Rho, acquiesced with the dignity and grace befitting a Gem of her stature. The palanquin docked in the lobby and their procession continued on foot. Stray attendants bowed as they passed. Blue Pearl inhaled deeply. Galaxy Needle had a distinctive scent to it, salty and a bit sweet, that made her feel at home. It was something embedded deep in the structure that eons couldn't erase.  

Sapphire of Xi greeted them warmly in the grand hall. The only details of note were the massive porcelain disks set into the floor. A simple-patterned medallion in the center stood for Homeworld while the remaining disks were arranged in a map of the moons and constellations. Pearl stared at the disk directly underfoot, badly worn and damaged from millennia of foot traffic. They were original to the building, Pearl knew, so why allow them to be so thoroughly trampled if they were too precious to replace? Why not use white marble if they wanted a mosaic so badly? 

"My Radiance! You do me a great honor by your visit." 

The Sapphire bowed deeply to Blue Diamond, then continued.

"Before The Oracle disappeared, she left a missive that you would need use of the Galaxy Needle in the future. She did not specify when or why, only that we were to grant you the clemency she could not. Some have tarnished the reputations of Sapphires, but you will find no such Gems here. Your actions prevented another war here on Homeworld, and every priestess sings your praises. I am forever in your debt, my Radiance, you need only speak the word. You have only loyal servants here."

"Thank you, Sapphire. Today I'd like to visit the foundation. Would you please lead us down there?"

Pearl snapped back to attention. Us? She'd never been allowed to visit the basement. Sapphire of Xi made no objections and led them out of the grand hall and down a passageway until they stopped at a small fountain alcove. She placed her right-gemmed hand on the statue of the Moon Goddess in the center. The statue flashed and disappeared, leaving a dark, open entrance Pearl had never seen. Sapphire of Xi stood aside and motioned for the pair to enter. As soon as Blue Diamond stepped through, a line of torches descending in a wide spiral illuminated in a green-blue flicker. Blue Pearl stepped in after her and their entrance sealed shut. The scent of water permeated the air. If Pearl didn't know better, she'd think this staircase was at the bottom of the sea. Blue Diamond continued down without a word and Pearl trailed behind. By Pearl's estimate, the staircase terminated in a distance roughly two floors down. With no more torches to guide them, Blue Diamond's gem bathed their landing in a faint light.  

Her mistress seemed to navigate more by memory than sight and Pearl had no choice but to cling tight to her heels. The tang of salt clung to the old stones, so thick down here it made Pearl want to choke. A forest of pillars surrounded them, and her Diamond's light caught brief glimpses of etchings here and there. Blue Diamond finally stopped at the largest one, what Pearl could only assume to be a pillar dead center in the Galaxy Needle's foundation. Blue Diamond ran her hand across one block at eye level, too high for Pearl to see. When Blue Diamond knelt before Pearl, arms open, it took a moment to understand her meaning. She wrapped her arms around Blue Diamond's neck while her mistress hoisted her up. 

"No Gem made after Era Zero has seen this," her Diamond explained. "but I think you deserve to know." 

There, on a block as long as she was tall, someone had chiseled in a script bearing rough semblance to standard Gemhand:

**BLV DIMOND I**

Blue Pearl touched the name with trembling hands. Her fingers fit perfectly inside the wide grooves. The stone was dry, but a ghostly feeling of dampness lingered. The memory of an ocean clung to the bricks. Blue Diamond's free hand rested next to Pearl's. 

"Yellow and White would rather forget the past, but sometimes I need a reminder of my origins. I was not born of a goddess, only by technology and stone. This temple was built from my monolith, along with the remaining stones from Sector Mu. Everything we build is on the foundation of something else. We'll never escape that."

"But it's not the same."

The words burst from Pearl before she could stop herself. Everything White told her congealed here, in the cold, wet air beneath the temple.

"It's your temple now. When we...cut blocks from mountains, it's not a mountain anymore. It's...blocks for buildings. We change it. We make it better."

In spite of the overwhelming darkness, Pearl saw Blue Diamond smile weakly.  
 

 


End file.
